Chasing Ghosts
by Jessica.Eileen
Summary: [CURRENTLY RE-WRITING] Danielle Jones was ordinary. She had her small apartment that she could just afford, her books she liked to bury herself into and the two boys she often found herself looking after that lived on the floor below her. Danielle Jones was completely and utterly ordinary until one night she found herself staring at two blondes in a Chinese Restaurant. [Marko x OC]
1. Staring

**Title:** Chasing Ghosts  
**Chapter One**: Staring  
**Words: **3,604  
**Edited: 8/11/14 – 14/3/15**  
**Notes:** Lost Boys is my favourite vampire film of all time and one of my favourite films of all time as well, I hope you all enjoy my story, your feedback is welcomed.  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Lost Boys, though I really wish I did.

**-0-**

Danielle Jones wasn't an idiot. She had done some pretty idiotic things in her lifetime but she had always been on the intelligent side of the track. Standing in front of her neighbours, two boys no older than fourteen she felt utterly responsible for them even though she had known them for only two months and couldn't understand how she had let this situation slip by her in the past.

"Don't either of you have school?" She asked, eyeing the two boys with curiosity "You should have left ten minutes ago; at this rate you're going to be late. Alan you told me your parents ran this shop while you had school, is that true?"

"They do-" Alan began, but his brother was having none if it today

"They don't" Edgar stated

"Why don't you just close the shop?" she asked

"We'd lose too much money-" Edgar argued

"We've done it before" Alan said impatiently, rolling his eyes while he did so "Edgar we've gotta' go, we can't miss anymore school than we already do, we're struggling enough as it is to make the grades we have"

"Is hiring someone to work the shop during the day not an option?" The older girl suggested "I'm sure you could find someone around here that'd be willing"

"You expect us to trust someone we don't know with the shop? With all of the comics and not to mention the money we're pulling in?" Edgar glared, his tone full of distaste "Of course you would"

"Well, I was just trying to help" she said softly, shaving grown used to Edgar's harsh voice and criticism to the suggestions she often had

"You could do it?" Alan said, turning to his brother "Yeah, she could do it man we trust her"

"You trust her" Edgar grumbled "I on the other hand-"

"I wouldn't have said yes anyway Edgar as I already have a job" Danielle smiled at the younger, friendlier brother "If I could, I would"

"Yeah like waiting tables is a good job" Edgar grumbled

"I bet it pays more than it would here" she smiled politely "And that's what matters, now you both need to go to school, you miss enough as it is already as Alan said"

Danielle watched them both begrudgingly pack up the shop, bringing all of the comic stands inside before grabbing their backpacks from behind the counter.

"Have fun leaning" She told the boys brightly – Alan grinned but Edgar rolled his eyes and mumbled something she couldn't hear under his breath before walking towards the exit of the Boardwalk.

Danielle Jones had met Alan and Edgar Frog whilst browsing through the comic book shop they both ran for their parents two months ago while she was on her lunch break, Alan had always been pretty friendly towards her but Edgar was quite the opposite – though deep down she thought she was beginning to grow on him. He isn't as sarcastic and rude as he used to be at least.

The walk to the diner she worked in from nine to five every weekday was only a few shops away; it was quite small and hardly busy on the hours that she had to work. The uniform consisted of a light blue dress that brushed the mid length of her thighs with a small open necked collar that looked like something straight from the fifties. She arrived five minutes early, like always and tied the black apron around her waist – which was completely pointless. It's not like she was the cook and the apron couldn't really even be called an apron to begin with, it was so short that if it really came down to it would be pretty useless form protecting her uniform from food and coffee stains. The diner itself went alongside the uniform, looks like something pulled straight out of the 50's with its black and white tiled floor and squishy red chaired booths. Old records hung along the wall along with portraits of James Dean, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and even a little old retro jukebox sat in the very far left hand corner. It was run by and elderly couple, Mr. and Mrs. Hart – they were lovely and incredibly polite so much that it had freaked her out at first; they hired her on the day and didn't even ask if she had any prior experience. They were both behind the counter and smiled brightly as she walked through the double doors, she joined them momentarily after she had placed her bag away under the counter.

"How're you this morning dear?" the elder lady asked

"I'm fine and yourself Mrs. Hart?"

"How many times do we have to tell you Danny, call us by our first names" she scolded the younger girl lightly "You make me feel terribly old when you use my name with a title"

"Sorry Anna" she replied with a shake of her head "I'll try harder, I promise"

As expected, the day dragged by. With it being so quiet Anna and Jeremy saw no need to put two waitresses on duty especially when they were both working as well – the only other staff present were the cooks out the back who Danielle hardly ever spoke to unless she was retrieving orders. She had never worked nights here but she hoped it eventually grew busier than how it was during the day, if it didn't she had no idea how the place ran and kept itself in business.

At 4:58 exactly Gemma walked through the door. Gemma was tiny thing, with blonde hair and blue eyes she stood at five feet flat in height and couldn't be a day older than sixteen. She and Danielle had never spoken and that wasn't about to change today, Danielle retrieved her bag as soon as Gemma had put hers away and smiled at the owners of the little café before heading towards the double doors once more to take her exit

"Bye" she waved, choosing to brush aside the nonresponse she received from the blonde compared to the bright smiles she received from her bosses. Wasting no time she began the journey back to the comic book shop, smiling and waving at the two brothers as she walked past the half-crowded shop and into the tiny apartment building next door. She continued her way up the staircases and to the third floor, fishing the keys out of her bag and entering the small, yet cozy apartment with the faded number 5 hanging on the front door. It really was quite small as it only held three rooms; the main room which saw a small kitchen, a circular dining table with three chairs, a large sofa and a bookshelf, one bedroom which had a surprisingly comfy large queen sized bed with a matching set of drawers and vanity table and lastly a bathroom which barely fit the large bathtub, toilet and sink. The apartment was small but it wasn't a dump and it was also fairly priced which is incredibly rare to find around Santa Carla, especially seeing as it was located on the boardwalk itself. The walls were painted a soft yellow and most of the furniture was white – the colour scheme was simple but as long as it all went nicely together she found she didn't really care that much.

She dropped the bag onto the large couch and stripped out of her uniform, leaving the blue dress on the floor as she quickly threw on some jeans and an old black t-shirt that was rolled up at the sleeves and had several tears in the back. With the rent and grocery shopping taking up most of her pay check clothing definitely wasn't on the top of her current wish list but even before she had moved to Santa Carla clothes were never really a large issue. She picked up an old, worn out copy of Anna Karenina and continued from where she had left off, where Kerenin is consulting for a divorce which back then in Russia was quite rare and could only be requested if an affair had taken place. Anna Karenina was one of her favourite books of all time and she personally believes it to be one of the best in the world, she had lost count long ago of how many times she had read it.

The skies grew dark and Danielle took no notice, to that or the cheers and cries from the crowds and rides from the boardwalk below – she however did notice when her stomach started growling almost painfully. She regretfully tore her gaze from the book and marked the current page, fishing out her wallet from the bottom of the bag that was next to her on the couch. She placed a twenty dollar bill in her pocket before leaving and locking up her home.

The comic book shop was still quite crowded, well as crowded as comic book shops could be and both of the brothers were both behind the counter. Danielle walked towards them, earning an eye roll from Edgar but a nod and smile from Alan "I'm going to Ichi-Ban, can I get either of you anything?"

"We already ate" Alan said "Thank you though"

"Alright, I'll see you both later" she waved before turning around and taking her leave

"Don't get eaten" Alan said seriously, the girl shook her head and rolled her own eyes this time, she couldn't believe they were still going on about Vampires, of all things to warn her about in the world it had to be Vampires

"I won't" Danielle replied, choosing not to voice her true thoughts on the matter and continued on her way – it wasn't her place to judge the beliefs of others after all

"You know one day you'll take us seriously and that'll be one day too late as you'll be getting fed on" Edgar called out after the older girl

"I'll believe it when I see it Edgar" she said lowly, low enough she hoped so that the boy didn't hear – all she needed was another Vampire debate.

Ichi-Ban was pretty much empty when she walked through the doors; the couple that ran the place stand behind the counter and who she guessed to be their son was cleaning up a dirty table. This was somewhere she came often when she had her head stuck in a book and had forgotten to cook, Ichi-Ban was cheap and the food was always great. She walked up to the counter and smiled at the small Asian lady who by now already knew her order by memory.

"You want Katsu Chicken with no sauce, extra chicken?" The store owner asked politely, already scribbling down the order onto a small writing pad, she knew Danielle too well.

"Perfect" she replied, placing the correct amount of money and a tip on the counter before walking to her usual booth which sat against the far wall in the middle of the restaurant, noticing that the only other people occupying the place were a young couple who were playing footsies under the table in the center of the room. Sinking into the booth comfortably she edged towards the corner and pulled her knees up to her chest as she found the perfect spot.

The order was placed on the table before Danielle in minutes, steaming and sitting inside a little Chinese container, it smelled amazing and she couldn't wait to dig in. Checked to see that they had remembered to give her a plastic fork instead of chopsticks she soon found that thankfully they had, having never been taught how to use them before coming here in the first place she didn't exactly want a repeat of her first attempt. The first strip of chicken had just been swallowed when she was suddenly distracted by the faint bell chime of the entrance door; normally she wouldn't be bothered with people, or staring at them for that matter but one of the two boys was wearing the most odd jacket she had ever seen and try as she may she couldn't help but try and get a glimpse at all of the patches that had been ironed or sewed on.

The boy with the jacket was a little shorter than his friend and had long, curly hair that cascaded down his back, his white undershirt ended above his bellybutton and his baggy jeans sat firmly on his hips. The taller boy also had blonde hair, not as long as the first but it ended just below his shoulders, it was messy and made him look like he had just woken up and rolled out of bed. His hair suited his overall appearance which consisted of a fishnet shirt topped with a long navy blue coat that fell to his knees and tight beige pants.

Danielle went back to her food immediately before they could spot her staring, digging into the simple bliss that was Chicken and Rice. She remembered the first time she had come here and ordered, the woman looked at her like she was crazy when she asked for no sauce. Just plain chicken with rice by itself with no Katsu sauce and a fork instead of chopsticks, still do this day she laughs quietly to herself over the owners' expression whenever it crosses her mind.

Her mind wondered soon to the Frog Brothers and what they possibly could have eaten for dinner seeing as they don't cook for themselves and most of the time if she was not making them eat something healthy they were off eating Carnival Food. Their parents barely take care of themselves let alone their two young sons and it makes her feel incredibly sad, but at least they have the right state of mind - kind of anyway - if you exclude their elusive beliefs in vampires.

Movement caught Danielle's eyes and she glanced up quickly to the table beside her own and saw that the two blondes had now taken a seat; both of them were now seated on the further side of the booth so that they were facing her. The thought of anyone, let alone two attractive boys watching her eat made her feel incredibly nervous but nonetheless continued eating the Chinese, not lifting her eyes in the slightest in case they caught her staring. The taller of the two blondes could definitely be a model from what she remembered, though the whole fishnet shirt was a little strange. At her thoughts Danielle heard a snort of laughter coming from the table next to hers; she couldn't help but look up to see the boy with the patched jacket laughing quietly into his hand while the other shoved him roughly in what seemed to be annoyance. They looked quite similar to one and other now that she could seem them closer, maybe they were even related? They could definitely pass as cousins or maybe even brothers. And there was that jacket, it really was quite eye-catching, or so she thought. Seeing how many skulls she could possibly count sounded like an okay idea, which was before she realized that she was now indeed staring again, openly staring this time. Immediately glancing to the boy's face to her surprise and horror realized he was now looking back, a tiny smirk playing on his lips.

Danielle immediately went back to her food and tried to forget the small exchange, shaking her head to herself and thinking about how it all could have been avoided if she had just cooked for herself instead of getting lost in a book instead. Once she had finished her Chinese she stood to her feet, taking the empty takeout box with her as she walked the diner before placing it on the front counter. The Chinese woman smiled and nodded her head as a sign of thanks before throwing it in the bin beside her "Thank you" she smiled before walking towards the exit "The food is always good here, I'll be back soon"

Danielle didn't look back to the table which held the two blonde boys and instead made a beeline towards her apartment building. The crowds were still pretty big as the boardwalk didn't close for another two or three hours, she was bumped into three times on the short walk back to her home but this certainly wasn't anything new. Apart from the odd tourist here and there Santa Carla was pretty much a teenage-runaway central, then again she couldn't really talk seeing as she was one herself. But she was lucky at least; she had a job which paid well enough for her own apartment and food for the table so that she didn't starve.

Apart from the Frog brothers the young girl didn't really know anyone in this small town, though she didn't really make an effort to make new friends and meeting the Frog brothers was completely coincidental in the first place. Danielle had no idea they even lived in the same apartment building as she did, not until she saw them by chance leaving one morning as she was also getting ready to leave for work. It was Nights like tonight after she had eaten a meal when she usually stays in the shop until it closed; making friendly banter with Edgar and polite conversation with Alan and it was also the only time she left her little home at night time. It just wasn't safe around here. Too many people went missing and she personally wanted to live a little bit longer before disappearing off the face of the Earth.

Once Danielle reached the comic book shop she sat in her usual seat, next to Edgar as Alan walked around making sure no one was stealing or asking a customer if they needed help with finding anything in particular.

"Did either of you honestly have something to eat?" she asked seriously "Something that wasn't corn dogs, fried Twinkies or fairy floss?"

"Stop mothering, it isn't an attractive trait" Edgar replied, surveying the store from next to where she sat with her legs crossed at the ankle

"I'm not trying to be attractive Edgar; I'm asking if you've had something proper to eat"

"We had curly fries before you came down" he muttered, obviously not happy with the choice of food

"I would have bought you both something" she sighed to herself "All you had to do was tell me what you wanted when I went to get Chinese"

"Yeah well you ain't our parents so just quit it" he somewhat snapped, obviously Daniele had crossed the invisible line that had been drawn down the track

"I'm not trying to be your parent Edgar, I'm just making sure you don't starve, I didn't realize that was a bad thing" Edgar didn't reply to her words "Teriyaki or Katsu chicken?"

"Teriyaki" he replied, sounding somewhat defeated as he spoke "Alan likes Katsu with extra sauce"

"I'll be back in ten minutes"

Danielle made her way back to the Chinese restaurant and ordered for her two neighbours, barely having to wait five minutes before they had the correct orders in a plastic bag and ready for her to go. As she exited the shop she made sure that the bag was tied at the top and that they hadn't forgotten any chopsticks, looking up once more to her surroundings she eyed the person that was walking backwards towards her – before anything could say anything the boy had walked straight into her, causing her to drop the bag and fall down to the ground quite ungracefully.

"People need to start watching where they're going" she sighed while checking on the plastic bag to see if anything had spilt - thankfully nothing had. Not at all did she give a thought to the person who had just walked into her, not until he spoke that is.

"I could say the same for you" the boy replied, funny enough she hadn't even realized she had said the words aloud.

"I'm sorry but if I'm not mistaken you were the one who was walking backwards, into me might I add. From my perspective and position on the floor you're indeed in the wrong here" she looked up for the first time and to her dismay realized that it was one of the boys from Ichi-Ban earlier, the one that wore the fishnet shirt and the long jacket though he looked quite taken back by the words she had just spoken. His friend was also with him, the one with the cool jacket but so were two others that she did not recognize, though once again that was no surprise seeing as she hardly ever left the comic book shop and her apartment "And you don't even offer to help a girl off her feet?" she added, laughter lacing her tone

Just as Danielle was about to get to her feet the boy held out a hand, this caused her to laugh lightly and shake her head at the unexpected action "You know, it doesn't count if you have to say something before the offer"

Standing to her feet without the blondes help she continued to walk around the group of four boys and made her way back towards the comic shop, still finding it hard to believe that she just had to run into the two bots that she had been caught staring at earlier in the night. Reasons like this were a prime example of why she didn't leave her apartment in the first place.


	2. Meeting

**Title:** Chasing Ghosts  
**Chapter Two:** Meeting  
**Words:** 5,028  
**Edited: 8.11.2014 – 14/3/15**  
**Notes:** I am so surprised at all the positive feedback I received, thank you all so much! I'll leave the replies for the reviews at the bottom of this chapter. I hope you enjoy this chapter, I already have half of the third chapter written but other than that I've got nothing so I'm open to any suggestions you all have.  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Lost Boys, though I really wish I did.

**-0-**

"I'll be cooking dinner tonight" Danielle said to Alan who happened to be standing outside of the shop as she was walking home from her shift, he looked positively delighted at the thought of a home cooked meal.

"What are you cooking?" Edgar asked curiously, having joined his brother at the topic of food.

"Lasagna, made completely from scratch"

"Sounds really good" Alan nodded, Edgar on the other hand said not a word

"So how's school" she asked

"It was alright-" Alan began

"Same shit different day" Edgar waved his hand

"You don't have to cook for us all the time" Alan said, changing the conversation "We wouldn't want to put you out"

"I always make too much anyway" she lied, making the correct portions for one is easy enough but considering neither of the boys ever had a home cooked meal she always cooked extra when she could. It was worth it in the end for their sakes.

"Liar – you just feel sorry for us" Edgar growled, taking on the defensive side as he usually did. Edgar took the cooking as a sign of pity, though he really didn't understand her actions at all.

"I don't actually" she replied in defeat, truthfully growing sick of the same argument over and over again "I don't feel sorry for you Edgar, but have you ever thought of what you would do if I didn't cook on occasion? Or tell you when you're running late for school? Because all I'm trying to do is be a good person and you make it really hard for me to do that sometimes"

It was the first time Danielle had ever really responded to Edgar's words; she usually shook them off with a small smile and let the boy have his say. To her astonishment Edgar didn't blow up at her words and instead just stood there looking quite surprised "She has you their man" Alan laughed "C'mon, brighten up, not like she's a vamp or anything so what's the big deal?"

"Nothing" the other brother grunted "When will it be ready?"

"Are either of you hungry?" she asked, they both looked like they wanted to say yes but shook their heads instead "In that case I'll start making it as soon I get home okay? I shouldn't be longer than an hour and a half at the most"

It didn't, an hour and twenty minutes later Danielle had sliced the thick meal into three servings, placing them into two bowls and leaving the third serve steaming with heat on the counter before walking down to the Comic shop below. As soon as she had walked through the entrance to the shop Alan was on her like a fly, thanking her before taking a bowl from her hand and eating a rather large mouthful. Walking behind the counter she handed Edgar his portion, as much as he seemed to dislike her he'd never said a single bad word about her cooking and that was not about to change tonight.

"Thanks" Edgar even sounded sincere, something that had never happened in the previous times she had made dinner

"s' r-ly gd" Alan was nodding in delight, barely chewing the food properly before swallowing it whole

"Where's yours?" Edgar asked, taking another bite

"At my place still, I wanted to come and give you your good before I started eating mine"

"You didn't want to eat with us?" Alan asked, looking a little put out at the thought

"I couldn't carry all three bowls, if I had tried that it would have ended very tragically" she laughed merrily

"You can if you want to" Alan suggested

"Well-" Danielle glanced at Edgar who was once again rolling his eyes, what a surprise

"Despite what you may think I don't actually hate you" the boy said

"All right, as long as I'm welcome" she grinned and a minute later was back in her seat, eating with the two boys who still hadn't finished their portions which really much of a surprise considering the thickness of the lasagna.

"You're such a good cook" Alan complimented "And you did it all yourself? None of the microwave stuff?"

"I really like cooking, it's a great way to pass time and I find I'm quite handy in the kitchen" Danielle replied, taking another mouthful "I'm cooking chicken pasta bake tomorrow if either of you would like some, I always make enough to last me throughout the week" That wasn't a lie, she really did make enough to last her through the week so she wouldn't have to cook again. Leftovers were the best.

"That'd be great" Alan said enthusiastically, for once Edgar offered no decline and put his bowl down so he could stand to serve a customer "He's coming round, don't worry about him, for some reason he thinks we're your charity case or something"

Danielle nodded at Alan's words; it wasn't hard to understand why Edgar is the way he is. She accepted it and moved on quickly.

"Wait we aren't right? Your charity cases?" he asked

"Alan, you're both my neighbours who need decent food, sleep, to attend school and to shower" she smiled, remembering that one time

"Danielle that was one time-" Alan defended

"One time too many" Danielle said, grin growing larger at the topic of conversation. Edgar actually snorted with laugher at her words - maybe he was coming around after all.

It was nearing on eight o'clock when she left with the three empty bowls; surprisingly she had even eaten her whole portion to herself much to the both of the boys' obvious disappointment. Once again, this time too busy with her own thoughts she found herself not watching where she was going when she walked out of the comic shop, mind running through the recipe and ingredients that she would need for tomorrow when she walked into someone, having absolutely no idea how she kept ahold of the three empty glass bowls as she stumbled

"I'm so sorry" she laughed "Usually I always pay attention when I'm walking on the boardwalk-"

"We've gotta' stop meeting like this" Danielle glanced up quickly and to her shock their stood the taller of the two blondes she had ran into a little over a week ago, his friend with the patched jacket was standing next to him "And from my perspective you're indeed in the wrong here" he mocked, though the grin he wore told her he was just playing around

"Yes, well at least I apologized" She smiled, hoping the boy would catch on to her jesting.

"Hey, I offered to help you up" he retorted, crossing his arms with a playful smile

"After I had already pointed it out to you, as I said it doesn't count" she laughed "Alas it doesn't matter, I walked into you this time so I guess that makes us even"

"Until next time of course"

"Well, let us hope we can avoid that" she said, walking around the two boys

"You need a hand?" the other asked, speaking for the first time, his voice was light and rather musical – or so she thought anyway. Danielle smiled at the kind offer but shook her head in decline

"I'm fine thank you; I just live in the apartment building next door" she nodded towards the apartment

"You gonna' come back down? Once you've taken those up" he gestured towards the bowls

"Probably not, I don't like being out here on the boardwalk at night" both of the boys looked surprised at her response, which was understandable considering where were

"Why?" they asked together in unison

"Too many people go missing around here for me to go wandering around here by myself at night" she replied with a sad smile "I don't really fancy being one of the next to go missing, adding yet another missing persons poster to the board of never ending faces"

"Smart" the shorter one nodded

"Well I'm going to take my leave" said ended, rather awkwardly "Standing on the Boardwalk with dirty dishes probably isn't the best look – even for me" She also didn't know either of these boys and the fact that they were extremely good looking made talking to them just that little bit harder on her behalf

"You're not going to tell us your name?" The taller one asked, Danielle shook her head and turned towards the direction of her apartment building with a smile playing on her lips

"You never asked"

**-0-**

"Wait, you're both having lunch here?" Danielle asked, still astonished at the sight of two brothers standing outside of her door "I would have bought it down for you"

"Parents actually decided to watch the shop for a while" Edgar mumbled "So why not"

The brothers had never been inside her apartment before; lucky Danielle had those spare chairs at the little dining table otherwise they'd all either be dining on the floor or the couch.

"All right, let me go grab a few plates, I won't be a minute" She said, turning and heading into the kitchen but watched as the boys gazed around the apartment, taking everything in before finally turned back to her.

"Smaller than ours" Edgar pointed out, though not rudely

"I don't need a bigger one, not really, I mean it's only me after all isn't it?"

"That's a point"

"You don't have a cross hanging anywhere" Alan frowned "We'll get you one"

"There isn't any need Alan-" she began

"What if a Vamp decides to come knocking on your door? You need to be prepared Danielle. We can get you a stake too just in case"

"Alright" she went along with it, after these past few months she knew not to argue with the Frog brothers when it came to Vampires, it wasn't very wise.

"Why don't you believe us when we talk about Vampires" Edgar asked, taking the plate of food she had held out for him, genuinely curious for her answer

"Because I have never seen one"

"Our word isn't good enough?"

"It's not that your word isn't good enough Edgar, I just find it difficult to believe what someone, or anyone tells me unless I've seen it for myself. We're talking about Vampires here, as far as I am concerned you read about them in the pages of a book"

"So you don't believe in God?" Alan asked, taking a big bite of the pasta bake

"No, I don't. If they day comes where I die and I find myself in heaven I'll drop to my knees and pray. But I can't put my blind faith in a book like that, I tried but I just couldn't do it" she said with a shake of her head and a small frown

"That's a good point" Alan admitted

"I'm open to everyone's opinion and I will respect their opinions of course, but I just can't do it"

The three ate the rest of their food, their time was spent exchanging small chitchat here and there before Edgar got to his feet, collected the dirty dishes and walked towards the sink – to Danielle's surprise he began washing them "I can do-"

"You cooked" Edgar interrupted, not letting her finish what she was going to say "I'm doing the dishes, don't complain"

"Alright" she said as she held her hands up in defense before Alan also stood to his feet

"I'll dry" he said, accompanying his brother by the small kitchen sink

"What time are you both heading back to the comic shop?" she asked

"Soon, around one o'clock, I don't want to leave them alone too long" Edger said, annoyance lacing his tone

"What do you do anyway?" Alan asked, looking around the room "You hardly ever leave here; you don't have a TV or well, anything"

"I read" she said simply with a shrug of her shoulders, gesturing towards the bookshelf which was already overflowing with books that she didn't have room for

"Read? Like books?" Alan grimaced

"Yes, like books" she laughed "Is that so crazy"

"All you do is read?" Edgar clarified

"Well, I draw sometimes" she admitted "Not very often anymore though, I prefer to read"

"Do you have anything we could see?" Alan asked

"I have my old school portfolio under the couch, I think-"

But Alan had already walked over towards the large couch, was on his knees and searching for the old portfolio before she could finish her sentence. Danielle hadn't even touched a pencil since she moved here all those months ago; the portfolio had been sitting there for quite some time collecting dust. Thinking about it now she wondered why she had even bought it with her in the first place.

"Ah, here" he pulled out a large A3 sized folder "Come have a look Edgar" his brother sat beside him on the couch and peered at the first drawing as Edgar opened it "You drew this?"

"Yeah, beside English it was the only subject I ever took a good taking too"

"Man look at this" Alan said, pointing towards the newest page

"No shit" Edgar laughed "That looks so real, this is a drawing? You drew this?"

"Yeah" she said faintly, walking towards the couch and looking at the eye she had drawn barely weeks before she packed her bags and left

"This is like picture perfect" Alan said, running a finger over the top of the plastic

"I'm actually really impressed" Edgar grinned "Who knew you'd be this good at something"

"I'm a good cook!" Danielle laughed

"Yeah but that isn't really a cool skill you know?"

"So you'd prefer my cooking to be terrible?" She asked, rising an eyebrow as she did so

"No"

"Then cooking is definitely a _cool_ skill"

The Frog brothers flipped through all 20 pages, looking at each drawing back to front. Alan showered Danielle with compliments on most of the work inside and Edgar often joined him. She hadn't drawn something since she was in school, though she still had all of her equipment; all different types of lead pencils, charcoal pencils, ink, paints, stencils, watercolors and even some chalk. She liked things that took up hours of time which art had a way of doing as did reading; she enjoyed starting something and then hours later realizing that she did indeed waste all that time, but look what she created while doing so, something beautiful.

The boys left at 1 o'clock as they said they would, leaving the portfolio open on the couch instead of its old place underneath it.

**-0-**

"What'd you do for the rest of the day?" Alan asked, pushing his empty bowl aside for the second time that day

"I read the rest of my book and then I heated this up" Danielle grinned at the empty bowls

"You lead an interesting life" Edgar commented, and she found that it was actually quite nice to not hear his usual tone laced with sarcasm

"I know, are you jealous?" he laughed at her words, an actual laugh – she was shocked "Edgar, did I just make you laugh?"

"Don't make such a big deal about it. Alan you want ice cream?" Edgar changed the conversation quickly, but that didn't stop her smile.

"Yeah man, sounds good – I want chocolate"

"Just wait til' the crowd dies down and I'll go get some"

"I can go for you" Danielle offered, though Edgar shot her a look that she was all too familiar with

"We can get it; you don't have to buy it for us"

"I wasn't offering to buy it for you Edgar. Actually I think you could actually shout me ice cream seeing as I've made dinner and lunch for the past day"

"Alright" he gave in easily, handing her a ten dollar note from the register "Two chocolate cones with double scoops and whatever you want"

"I'll be back" she said, pocketing the note as she left for the ice cream run. As she walked into the crispy night, enjoying the cold air on her bare arms she headed in the direction she thought the ice cream stand was, vaguely remembered walking past it once or twice before on the few times she had ventured out into the Santa Carla nightlife.

A couple of minutes later she had indeed found it, though she had absolutely no idea how she was going to carry three ice cream cones back to the shop all by herself, something she hadn't thought through very well about until that very moment.

"I thought you said you didn't go out on the Boardwalk at night?"

Danielle jumped with fright and turned to see the blonde boy with the patched jacket from the night before and week before; she shook her head at the coincidence but smiled nonetheless

"I don't" She replied honestly "I'm on an ice cream run for my neighbors and myself"

"You gonna' be able to carry it all?" he asked

"You know I was just thinking that myself" she laughed, shaking her head "Guess I didn't give that problem much of a thought when I left"

"I don't mind helping you out" he grinned while shrugging his shoulders a little

"I don't want to put you out" she insisted, though the help would save her two trips

"I don't mind" he really did sound sincere "Really"

"Okay, well, as long as you don't mind - just give me a second and I'll order" Danielle turned back to the ice cream cart looked at the selection they had to offer and after only a moment walked towards the little with her choices in mind "Can I please have two double scooped chocolate cones and a double scoop of strawberry and vanilla?"

The man nodded before getting the orders ready.

"You know I've never seen you around here" the boy said "How long have you lived in Santa Carla for?"

"Three months" she said while meeting his eyes "What about you?"

"A lot longer than three months"

"Well that was a poor answer"

"Couple of years"

"See? Now that wasn't so hard was it?"

"That'll be nine dollars ma'am"

Danielle returned her attention back to the ice cream clerk and handed him the ten dollars that Edgar had given her earlier, she let him keep the change. The boy took Danielle's ice cream while she carried Edgar and Allan's.

"I'm guessing by neighbors you meant the kids that run that comic shop?" he asked

"Yeah" She nodded, thinking of the two brothers "They're quite the characters. Where's your friend? Every time I've run into you you've been together"

"Who? Paul?" he asked

"Well, I'm not too sure what his name is"

"Yeah that's Paul you're talking about. I don't know, probably off scaring some poor girl"

She couldn't help but laugh at his words and the honesty that was probably behind them. The rest of the walk was quiet, but it wasn't an awkward silence. Funny enough she found herself enjoying the Boardwalk at night, it was just so different from during the day that she couldn't help but appreciate all the fun and joy around her and not to mention the lights.

"So when you said you didn't go out at night, you've been around the Boardwalk at night before right? Apart from going to get Chinese and ice cream of course"

"Nope" She answered honestly, his eyebrows rose at her response

"How can you live here and not have gone out at night? That's crazy"

"Am I missing out on all that much?" she asked

"Yeah, well maybe, it all depends on who you're with"

Both arriving back at the comic book shop, Danielle gave Alan and Edgar their chocolate ice creams before retrieving her own, licking up some of the icy goodness that was now dripping down the side of her cone - Edgar and Alan on the other hand were too busy looking at the blonde stranger, something that didn't slip past her as she continued to eat her ice cream.

"I'd introduce you but I still don't know your name" Danielle blushed slightly, glancing to the blonde once more

"You never asked" he grinned

"I'll see you both later, thank you for the ice cream Edgar" She smiled at the brothers before heading towards the exit, the boy followed suit and before she knew it they were both standing outside of the comic shop once more.

"Ah – look who it is! Girl-with-no-name!"

Following the voice Danielle found who she now knew to be Paul, dressed exactly as he was the last time she had seen him in that navy blue jacket and tight beige pants.

"Hi Paul" She grinned

"Well that's just not fair" Paul frowned "Marko have you been gossiping about me?"

Marko. His name was Marko. She found the name interesting, having not heard of a Marko before – Mark's, sure – but not Marko.

"Me? Nah" Marko shook his head "Never"

"Well I still don't know your name and it's unfair that you know ours" Paul grinned, throwing an arm around Marko shoulders

"Danielle" she said "My name is Danielle"

"Lovely name, suits you" Paul nodded with a wink

Danielle didn't really know what to do now; she was never great at making friends or even conversation for the matter when it came to people she didn't know very well "Well, now we're all introduced. It's nice not having to be run into or to run into you but I think I'm going to be heading off"

"You're not joining us?" Paul pouted "Why not?"

"I-" she paused "We just met and you'll soon find me to be incredibly boring I'm sure of it, I don't think I'd be much fun if I was to hang around"

"Yeah you do! We've run into each other, twice might I add, so of course we know each other. You should let us be the judge if you're so boring or not"

"Let us show you around" Marko said "C'mon, you haven't been out here at night before and I don't think you're gonna go get yourself kidnaped or murdered with us around are you?"

Paul snorted at his friends words; Marko elbowed him in the ribs in return.

"Okay, why not" Danielle smiled, eyeing her ice cream which was now nearly gone – apart from the cone which she refused to eat.

"Great!" Paul said

"Let me bin this first-" she said as she rushed over towards the nearest bin, desperately trying to think of an excuse that she could use to go back to her quiet apartment and to her unfinished book – though she'd read it before. Twice.

"C'mon, don't want you changing your mind" Paul said, steering her away from the comic shop and towards the heart of the Boardwalk. As they made the journey the crowds began to grow bigger and bigger by each minute and after the first three times she stopped thanking Paul when he would steer her back towards where he was so that she never got lost in the sea of people.

"Carousel?" Marko asked

"Carousel" Paul grinned, now steering Danielle in the direction of the large Carousel. It didn't take them long to reach their destination and when they did Paul pushed his way to the very front of the line.

"You shouldn't cut lines Paul" she scolded, but she couldn't help but smile at his childishness "It's not very fair"

"Don't stress, they won't say anything" Paul scoffed, sounding very sure of himself

"You're very sure of yourself aren't you?" she asked, though Paul only grinned in return and offered no reply. When it was their turn to ride the Carousel Paul lifted her up by the waist and sat her down on the horse like she weighed absolutely nothing – which she certainly did not and couldn't help but squeak at the sudden action.

"Calm down" he laughed, now leaning against the horse she had been seated on with Marko flanked the other side

"I'm calm, but a little warning never hurt anyone" she laughed

"I'll remember that next time" said Paul

"Who says there's going to be a next time?" she asked

"After tonight girl, you won't be able to get enough of us" Paul shook his head

"And you're so sure of this?"

"Definitely" he winked and she laughed once more, wondering how on Earth she ended up riding the Carousel with two strangers she had just met. It's not that she wasn't looking forward to the carousel ride; she just thought it a little childish for someone her age and was surprised when she found herself enjoying it as much as she did – basking in the colours and the scenery flying around her.

"C'mon girl" Paul went to lift her down from the horse but she had jumped down without his aid, he rose an eyebrow at the action and shrugged before grabbing her hand and pulling her off the Carousel and leading her towards the band that was playing tonight down on the beach. Every Saturday night a different band played down on the sand and tonight it was a rock band that Danielle didn't know the name of which was no surprise seeing as she rarely enjoyed music by itself let alone some of the local acts they always had playing around here. Paul was nodding his head to the music and jumping from one foot to the other along with the beat, he looked completely in his element.

"Don't mind him" Marko spoke up, having barely spoken since Paul had joined them earlier "He's strange, but you get used to it"

"Heard that Marko" Paul called over the music "And I'm not strange"

Marko rolled his eyes while she smiled – though both of the boys stopped in their steps quite suddenly, a look of deep concentration across their faces. They both looked as if they'd just had a run in with Medusa – without the stone of course.

"Hello?" she asked, receiving no response from either boy but a moment later they both shook their heads in sync

"Sorry" Marko grinned "Lost in thought"

"I seemed to have joined him" Paul laughed "Though I hope it wasn't about the same thing, that'd be crossing a few lines"

"Stop man" Marko shook his head "Just, stop talking"

"You wanna meet the rest of the gang?" Paul asked and Danielle couldn't help but grow nervous at the thought of meeting even more new people

"Um-"

"You'll be alright, I mean you've already half met when you think about it" Paul interrupted, but Danielle had absolutely no idea what he was talking - she couldn't remember meeting anyone else apart from the two blondes that were already in her company

"When did such a thing happen?" She asked in confusion

"When I ran into you that night, David and Dwayne were there as well"

"I didn't take any notice of them" she said as she tried hard to remember what the other two had looked like, the only thing she remembered about that encounter was being knocked to the ground and Marko and Paul's faces – barely believing that it just had to be the two boys she had been staring at earlier that very night.

"It's all good, can't blame you" Paul grinned widely

"Well, you did run into me"

"I was talking about how you were obviously distracted by my devastating good looks girl" he grinned, she could barely contain her smile

"You're definitely delusional then" Danielle replied, smiling as she caught Marko's little hidden smile.

"Well, well, I didn't think we'd be seeing you around again"

Danielle looked into the direction of the new voice and found another blonde with spiky white hair and dressed in a large coat that covered most of his body - he looked Danielle straight in the eye and she suddenly felt like he was reading her like one of the many books that she owned.

"I wish I could say the same to you but I apologies, I don't recognize you" she confessed, offering the newest boy a small smile

"Names' David – that's Dwayne" he pointed to Dwayne who was standing just a little behind him – a tanned boy with dark hair, his bare chest was only covered by a denim jacket.

"Danielle" She said, introducing herself to the other two boys

"Well it's nice to meet you Danielle" David said, his tone was flat with no emotion, it was hard to decipher "And what exactly have you all been up to on this fine night?"

"Giving Danielle here a tour of the Boardwalk, never seen it at night before" Paul explained

"Really Danielle, now that's interesting, and how long have you lived here?" David asked

"Three months" she replied honestly. If David's blank and forward façade bothered her she didn't let it show, something David thought was quite interesting.

"And you've never been out at night before?" his eyebrows rose "I find that hard to believe Danielle"

"Only if I'm in dire need of food" she shrugged "Other than that I avoid the boardwalk at night"

"Why?" he asked bluntly

"Too many disappearances" she replied simply "I would prefer if my name didn't end up on the list"

"Smart girl" the third blonde nodded, a smirk playing on his lips

"I like to think I am" Danielle smiled "Anyway, I should be heading off-"

"But we didn't get to give you the full tour" Paul pouted

"I can't do roller-coasters" Danielle smiled, turning to face the tallest of the three blondes "They make me feel funny, but thank you for tonight, it was fun regardless"

"I'll walk you back?" Marko offered

"You've done more than enough for me tonight, but thank you for everything" Danielle smiled at Marko and gave him a little wave goodbye before turning to the two boys she had just been introduced too "It was nice meeting you both, maybe I'll see you around again sometime"

"You too Danielle" David said, still with that blank look on his face.

The girl smiled regardless, his demeanor seemingly not affecting her whatsoever.

**-0-**

**Review Responses:**

**PoisonBones:** Thank you, I'm glad you liked the first chapter. I love Marko's jacket! If I had the money I would definitely buy a replica.

**AnnieK1994:** I will update as soon and as much as possible, though I didn't think this would receive this much good feedback, I better kick start this story into gear : - )

**BeautifulResurrection:** I know that feeling when you get into story and it's left half completed, I will try my absolutely hardest not to do that!

**ZoopBooper:** That means so much to me as I am very self-conscious of how I write, thank you very much! I will update as much and as quickly as I possibly can.


	3. Shoplifting

**Chasing Ghosts  
Chapter Three:** the Shoplifters  
**Words: **3,488  
**Edited: 1.8.2014 – 15.3.2015**  
**Notes:** A massive thank you to all of those who reviewed this story! I am going through a little writers block with this story already and I am freaking, I have no idea how to get it to where I want it to go! But I'll figure it all out and I'll keep posting I hope you enjoy the latest chapter, a little shorter, and I'm not perfectly happy with it but it will do for now.  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Lost Boys, but I really wish I did.  
**Shout Outs: **ThePhantomismyLove, Freax and PoisonBones for reviewing, thank you all! Also to all those who added this story to their favourites and now follow, words can't express. 

**-0-**

"Who was he?" Edgar asked, not letting go of the subject he had raised

"Marko" Danielle replied for the third time

"Yeah but _who_ was he?"

"A boy" She laughed, turning the page of the X-Men comic she was currently reading

"How long have you known him for?"

"Technically about three weeks, I'm not sure, I don't keep track"

Danielle hadn't seen any of the four boys since the week before though it wasn't like she went out looking for them on purpose, tending to still stay inside her apartment most nights unless she was here at the comic book shop reading her books and even drawling in her sketch books a little more since her recent discovery of her old portfolio. Marko and Paul were funny and they seemed to both be nice enough but it wasn't like she was going to suddenly go out every single night and look for them, she still had her precautions about the nightlife in Santa Carla and they weren't going away anytime soon just because she had been introduce to two funny, attractive boys. It was nice though, the thought of having friends her own age – though she dared not utter word about that to either of the brothers in case she offended them.

"That's not very long" Edgar frowned

"No, I guess it isn't" she admitted, turning to Edgar and giggling at his expression "Lighten up Edgar, it's a Friday night and you have no school tomorrow, you should be in a great mood"

"Edgar's never in a great mood" Allen shouted from somewhere in the store, Danielle laughed a little louder at the comment and shook her head at Edgar's attempt at throwing an empty water bottle at his brother's head – he missed by a milestone.

"Do all your clothes have holes in them?" Edgar asked, she looked up once more from the comic and followed Edgar's distasteful gaze to the hole in her jeans. Well, the several holes in her jeans.

"They're good jeans" she shrugged "Why would I get rid of them just because of a few holes?"

"Get new ones"

"But I like these ones; they're comfy and great quality"

"They have holes in them"

"Some people think that that's good fashion you know"

"Well they know nothing and it doesn't speak volumes about your appearance"

"It's the inside that counts Edgar, not the outside" she smiled, thinking of all the memories she had had in the jeans she was currently wearing. She had bought these jeans in her first year of high school and they were the oldest pair that she owned. She had met a lot of old friends in these jeans, she had painted amazing pictures in this jeans and she had read great stories in these jeans.

"I'm going to get another comic; I've finished this one-"

"Don't ruin the order!" Edgar shouted as she walked towards the isle she was looking and laughing at his words as she recalled the last time she had accidentally messed up the order of the x-men comics. Edgar had been absolutely furious to say the least and didn't talk to her for nearly an entire week after the incident had occurred just over two months ago. Replacing the X-men comic where she knew she had picked it up she decided she would go with a little bit of Wonder Woman instead as she found she had always taken a liking to Diana Prince. Out of the corner of her eye she suddenly noticed two boys clumsily filling their large pockets with various comic books they could find and suddenly she was faced with a serious dilemma. Confrontational was not a word she would use to describe herself and if it were any other shop she would honestly have let the actions go – it wasn't her place after all - but this was Edgar's and Allan's place and she wasn't going to watch on as two people tried to steal the products they worked so hard for. Edgar and Alan miss school for this damn shop after all.

Danielle Jones approached the two boys with caution and cleared her throat lightly; they both turned and looked at her with their brows scrunched in surprise and even a bit of confusion.

"I'm sorry, but are you going to pay for those?" she asked quietly, pointing to their bulging pockets

"Pay for what?" One asked, he had cropped greasy black hair and not one but two nose piercings – the two hoops sat beside one another on the left hand side.

"I saw you - you know putting the comics into your pockets"

"Don't know what you're talking about" the second boy laughed "Unless you wanna' search us personally sweetheart and try and find them for yourself"

She cringed at the thought but ignored the words.

"This shop belongs to my friends, you could be stealing anywhere else and I wouldn't care, this place means more to them than anything and I think you should put them back of hand them to me"

"Or what-"

"Or I'll beat the shit out of you with my friend Betty here" Edgar said suddenly having appeared by her side, he was holding a titanium baseball bat in one hand and had it slung over his shoulder "So what's it gonna' be guys?"

The two guys emptied their pockets and were gone within the minutes, mumbling and spitting words at Edgar and Danielle as they left "Why didn't you say anything sooner?" Edgar mumbled, walking off towards the counter and putting the baseball bat down "I would have handled it, you didn't have to say anything"

"On top of running this place I didn't think you'd need anything else to worry about" Danielle shrugged "I just wanted to ease your burden"

"It's not a burden" Edgar denied, but she didn't believe his words – she just couldn't. Sure Edgar and Alan liked comic books but surely they might one day want to do something other than work in a shop being as young as they were. They came home from school and opened the shop, they woke up early on their weekends and opened the shop and they stayed home from school and worked in the shop. Thinking about it like that didn't make her sad anymore, it made her angry.

"Okay little frog" Danielle said, ruffling Edgar's hair as he did and laughing at his facial expression he pulled for the nickname she had given him

"I feel like rice" Edgar announced

"Who's paying?" she asked "I have no money on me but I can go get some from the apartment"

"We'll shout this time" Alan said, handing her a few crumpled notes from his pocket "You bought us takeout last time anyway, now we're even"

"Do you both want the usual then?" she asked

"Yeah" Edgar and Allen echoed

"I'll be back" she smiled, waving at both of the boys before taking her leave.

It took Danielle no time at all to reach Ichi-Ban like always and it didn't surprise her when she entered the dimly lit restaurant and saw that it was empty apart from the owners who as usual were stationed behind the counter.

"Evening Minami, the usual for me, one Katsu Chicken with extra sauce and Teriyaki please - also keep the change" Danielle said, handing the women the few notes she had been given before walking towards her usual booth and sitting how she always did – back against the glass window and knees to her chest.

Over the past four and a half months of living in Santa Carla Danielle found that Ichi-Ban has always been quiet even when it was occupied with people other than herself, so the last thing she expected to hear was the shattering of a glass window and a piercing scream. With wide eyes she watched as the brick flew over her head and landed before the counter, bits of glass were now raining from above and onto her head and once again she shut her eyes tight so that they would get anything in them. Minami was still screaming when she finally opened her eyes and saw that she was now surrounded by a large pool of broken glass, she carefully tried to stand to her feet and winced as she cut her left hand as she stumbled – brushing off the glass that was still on her t-shirt as she did so. Hurrying towards the counter to make sure Minami was okay she couldn't help but grow thankful as she saw the brick hadn't hit her, but tears still ran down her sad face.

"Minami are you okay?" Danielle asked, Minami didn't offer a respond and wiped the tears that had stained her cheeks "Here let me help you-"

"Well aren't you just an angel?"

Turning towards the door Danielle was shocked to see the two boys from merely ten minutes ago standing just inside of the door, the one with the greasy hair was laughing "Stopping us from stealing from you friends store, helping the lady to her feet, you must be a nice girl"

"A nice girl" the second laughed "Good one man"

Danielle knew the chances of the two boys just happening to go to the same Chinese restaurant as her without any coincidence was slim to none and she also suspected that they were the ones who had just throw the brick through the window. Having never been in a situation like this before she couldn't lie, she was absolutely petrified – who on Earth goes around throwing bricks through peoples windows without a care in the world? Someone could have been gravely hurt.

"W-what in the world do you think you're doing? Did you throw that brick through the window? Did you follow me here?" she asked, standing her ground while trying to find whatever courage she had

"And what if we did huh?" The greasy haired one asked, twirling one of his nose rings as he walked closer into the deadly silent restaurant "What you gonna' do about it girly? You haven't got no baseball bat here, you got nothing here"

"Do you have no sense of respect? You can't go around throwing bricks through peoples windows it's completely discourteous and – and absolutely barbaric"

"Big words" the second nodded "You a smart girl and a nice girl, so what you doing in a place like Santa Carla huh?"

"Who cares what she's doing here James, you're coming with us" the first said

"Yeah, yeah, whatever Bo"

"I'm not going anywhere with you" she said, though her words didn't sound as defiant as they had when she had said them inside of her head, instead they had come out unsteady and her hands were shaking at her sides.

"You gonna' do whatever we say-" Bo demanded, pointing at her while taking another step closer "-or we'll just make ya' girly, we're being nice by giving you a choice"

"Yeah you tell her Bo" James nodded "Easy way or the hard way"

"I'm not going anywhere" she frowned "Who do you think you are? Your actions were completely inhumane and uncalled for; do you take pleasure in making other people miserable? Minami and her family work hard here, this is-"

But she just couldn't finish her sentence. What if they had followed her here? That meant that the window was her fault and that sent a shock of guilt through her that made her feel absolutely terrible, sickly even and it sat at the bottom of her stomach and refused to move. No, she didn't make the boys throw that brick through the window but they threw it because of their anger directed at her. If she hadn't had come here then the window would never had been smashed in the first place. In that moment she vowed that she would pay for the broken window to be fixed even if that meant that she would just have to go without a few things here and there for a couple of weeks to cover the expenses.

"Who do you think _you_ are huh?" Bo spat, walking closer towards her and speaking each word louder than the last "You're a little rat, that's what you are and you are gonna' come with us weather you like it or not"

"You can't just – you can't just act like this-"

"I'm gonna' do whatever I want to do" Bo sneered, only mere feet away from her "Obviously you haven't lived here very long sweetheart, you don't know how things work around here, we do whatever we want whenever we want and nobody says a thing about it, ya' here me?"

"I – I hear you but that doesn't-t mean anything" she stuttered, still holding onto what courage she had which was fading as each second past

"You gonna' make us drag you outta' here, we will" he nodded, he even looked a little excited about the idea "you ain't too hard on the eyes doll, I could think of a few things that would make do as an apology, get what I'm saying?"

His words sent a feeling of dread through her; she understood what he was implying completely. Today had been such a normal day and now she was being threatened by two boys she knew would pull through on the threats they offered. Today was normal, it was utterly normal and now it had been turned completely upside down and she had no idea what she was going to do. Fighting was something she had never had to do before tonight and running was also never a strong suit.

"You're disgusting" Danielle said, looking Bo square in the eyes "And if you think I'm leaving here on my own free will you have another thing coming to you"

Bo didn't look phased by her words at all; instead he smiled right before grabbing her by the arm and dragging her towards the exit. She struggled in his hold but it did no good at all, he was stronger and bigger than she was by more than just a little bit. Not only that but his friend was now walking right behind them, even if she did happen to get one over Bo she would have to deal with James next. She had only bad feelings about what they could possibly do to her and if her thoughts happened to be right she would welcome being slapped around any day of the week.

"Hard way then huh" James laughed from behind them "I was hoping you'd pick the hard way, for a smart girl you ain't so smart ya know?"

"Compared to both of you I'm a genius" she mumbled

The echo of the slap she received in response to her words could have been heard over the busy crowds of the boardwalk if they had happened to be on the busiest parts of the actual Boardwalk she was sure. Danielle cursed silently that Ichi-Ban just had to be off of the main strip and not actually on it. Her cheek stung but at least it took the pain away from her hand, but that did not stop her stumbling a few feet form the sudden impact though she didn't make it very far, Bo's hand was still clutching her left arm in a vice grip so hard that she was positive it was going to leave a bruise.

Mouthing off was something she rarely ever did and when she did it was always in the company of her lone self. After tonight, she promised she was never going to do it again.

"She' a smartass too" James laughed "We got a winner"

"Yeah we might just have to keep her once we're done with her" Bo sniggered.

Danielle pulled and pulled, desperately trying to break free from the grip that Bo had locked her in but it was absolutely no use, James was laughing even harder at her attempts and Bo was looking like he had won the lottery. This was why she didn't leave her apartment in the first place – she wasn't a bad person right? She didn't deserve _this_ did she? Bad things seemed to happen to bad people around here and that's why she stayed safe and sound in her cosy little apartment. Why didn't she just let them steal the bloody comic books in the first place?

Her last thoughts stopped her dead in her tracks, so much that Bo had to pull on her arm even more so that she would once again move. Would she have changed her mind if she knew this was going to happen? She didn't know the answer to that in that very moment. Alan, sweet Alan who has always been so nice and kind to her and Edgar who was hard around the edges – but he'd warmed up to her hadn't he? They might be younger than she was and believed in the mythical tales that were Vampires but they were good kids – no, they were good friends. No, she wouldn't have taken her actions back because she knew how hard the brothers worked to keep that shop running, she knew how much school they missed out on and how many meals they went without - so no, she wouldn't have done anything differently.

Danielle did not know where both of the boys were leading her, all that she knew was that there were practically no people around which was one of the worst things that could possibly continue to happen. The worst thing was, even the people she saw were making absolutely no attempts to do anything. She had never been to this part of the boardwalk before; the lights were slowly disappearing and the shouting and cheers of the Boardwalk crowd were dying with each step she took. She knew, she just knew that something bad was going to happen to her and she had absolutely no way to stop it from happening, in this moment she was absolutely useless and she had nothing, absolutely nothing. Having no idea what possessed her to do it, with every bit of strength she had she stomped on Bo's closest foot to her own with the heel of her foot – he howled in pain before letting her go, not waiting a second before running as fast as she could. Turning back around popped through her head before she thought of James and instead so took off straight into the unfamiliar.

Having read about chases in books before did not prepare her for the reality of it all. At first she didn't hear footsteps behind her, only loud shouting but moments later the footfalls came and it pushed her to run that little bit harder – that little bit faster. Up ahead she saw that she could make a right or left turn and opted right, hoping and praying that she would soon and very quickly come across the busier part of the boardwalk and get lost amongst the crowds. Fighting the urge to look back as she ran as fast as her legs would carry she found was a hard job and it only made matters worse when she felt one of her shoelaces come untied. In books the authors write about adrenaline pumping through your body, but she didn't think she had an adrenaline rush; the only thing that kept her going was the thought of what was to happen to her if she was caught by Bo and James. Luck must have been on her side for the first time that night because soon she could hear the buzzing and cries of people coming alive once more, more light filled the darkened streets and the crowds were beginning to thicken once again. Out of the corner of her eyes she noticed people stopping to watch her as she ran, staring after her as she knocked into countless people without so much as a sorry but she couldn't bring herself to worry about that now. James and Bo's footsteps had died minutes ago when she had found the crowd but she still couldn't bring herself to stop running, not until she knew she was completely safe. When she arrived she took the stairs two and three at a time and slammed the door behind her once she made it inside, triple checking both locks three times to make sure that it was safe and secure.

Paranoia set in immediately. They were going to break her door down, they had seen where she had come in – these were things that she was now sure of. The Chinese food was long forgotten, as were little Edgar and Alan and instead she sat huddled on her couch, praying that the two boys had lost her in the crowd and that she would never, ever have to see either of their faces ever again.


	4. Healing

**Chasing Ghosts  
Chapter Four:** Healing  
**Words: **2,548  
**Update:** 15.3.2015**  
Notes: **I received amazing feedback on the last chapter which is awesome seeing as I was really, really wary about it, especially the ending. This isn't a long chapter, just a little filler before I pick up on the next chapter which will probably be quite a lot longer (or so I'm hoping) and all you Paul lovers will be glad this chapter seeing as he and Danielle have a little chat.  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Lost Boys.

**-0-**

Danielle Jones' arm had a wicked bruise which matched the one that had appeared on her cheek where she had been backhanded the night before, waking that morning she found that she had fallen asleep on the couch drenched in sweat and barely being able to keep her scream in. The dream she couldn't remember, but she knew it hadn't been a nice one. Before now she had never been more thankful that she didn't work weekends – but she wasn't completely silly, she knew that the bruise on her face would not heal in such a short time span before her shift on Monday morning. Calling in sick for work or buying makeup are the only two real options she had and makeup was not on top of the 'I want to do' list and it wasn't like she could even apply it properly in the first place anyway.

Before she had fallen asleep with exhaustion on the couch she called Alan and Edgar, explaining that she had simply been knocked over on her journey to get dinner and had rolled her ankle in the process, leaving a few bills of her own under the door of their apartment the replace the ones that had gone to waste on the Chinese that was never eaten. The Frog Brothers live in the apartment just below her own with their parents though she had never met or seen either of them which only fused the worry she had for both of the boys. Some days she felt like their bigger and older sister to the, constantly worrying about their state of health and education and that was why she felt so bad about lying to them about the events that had happened the night before.

She had been hit a lot harder than what she had received last night by Bo, that wasn't the problem – she had faced that head on before and this time would be no different, the problem this time was the lies she was going to have to tell everyone to make-up for her lack of appearance while the bruises healed.

Saturday was spent drawing doodles in her sketch book and re-reading a book titled Different Season, it was a good read with four fantastic stories inside. She enjoyed those few hours, it took her minds off of the events of the night before but at the back of her mind she knew once she finished the book that the events would come crashing back. Reading was a great escape, but it never lasted forever. Could she afford to go the week without working? Yes. She had money saved away but she was saving that for something else, for something after Santa Carla – if that were to ever happen. Once again she did not realise that it had grown dark outside and her stomach began to growl, the thought of Chinese made her want to throw up and instead opted for some plain noodles that had been sitting inside on of her cupboards, the noodles had nothing on Ichi-Ban but it quenched her hunger for the time being. As she sat on the couch, book completed she dreads sleep. Distraction was easy when you're awake – books and art were easy enough but asleep she could do nothing for the dreams and nightmares that would only fuel her fear.

She tried very hard to stay awake for as long as she possibly could but yet again fell asleep on her couch due to her exhaustion, when she woke up in the morning her breath was short and heavy and once more she had a terrible feeling about the dream she had just had. To say she was thankful she couldn't remember a single part of it was a complete and utter understatement. Exhaustion still consumed her even though she had slept for nearly ten hours; she felt absolutely drained and was starting to think there weren't enough hours in the night for the type of rest that she was going to need.

Danielle didn't like this feeling at all, never ever in her wildest dreams did she think that she would be caught in this situation once more but here she was, terrified of sleeping and leaving the doors of her apartment to step outside. Everyone had always said she was the middle-man, never caught on either sides of a fight, the glue that kept everyone held together and the one that everyone just had to like because she was such a likable person. The girl you could tell anything and she would take it to her grave, along with that she wouldn't judge you or hold anything against you and was one of the most forgiving people you could ever meet. People say that but in truth she very rarely thought nice things about herself, she rarely thought about herself at all in fact as she was usually putting everyone around her before herself and even now she was still thinking about the Frog brothers and how bad she felt about herself for lying to them and how awful they would both feel if they saw her looking as she did. Work was also another troubling thought and how bad it would be for business if she showed up for her shift with bruises decorating her skin and how she knew her bosses would go out of their way to help her.

Sunday went past very similar to Saturday. Danielle started a new piece of art and after a few minutes of blind sketching she realised she had started to draw one of the patches she had seen on Marko's unique jacket, then she drew another and another until she had begun to draw the patched denim jacket itself. Try as she may she couldn't possibly remember every single patch but she improvised on the certain parts when she needed too until she had completed it altogether and when she had it was once again dark outside and her stomach was yet again growling with hunger. The thought of food made her want to be sick, but her stomach was growling so much she knew she had to do something about it soon. Noodles were her plan before she heard a faint tapping from the other side of her locked door.

"Danielle" Alan spoke from the other side, shuffling his feet as he did so with slight nervousness "Danielle, you okay? You haven't been down to the shop an Edgar and I were growing a bit worried"

Danielle felt twice as worse about herself as soon as she had heard his words; he was coming to check on her, Alan Frog had come to check on her and she felt awful as she was not about to go and open her door anytime soon - _especially _to one of the brothers in the state that she was in.

"Danielle, are you awake?" Alan said, knocking on the door once more and when she didn't answer after a few more minutes he sighed before walking away and making his way towards his own place downstairs, hoping that she was okay as he made the journey.

"I'm sorry Alan" she mumbled to herself, eyeing her now steaming cup of two minute noodles "I'm sorry but I won't let you see me like this"

**-0-**

One thing that Danielle didn't think about was the possibility of running out of food. Work had been taken care of, both of her bosses had been more than happy to give her the week off to mend her 'sprained ankle' but with all of the extra food she had been cooking for both of the brothers she hadn't been thinking about how much food she'd have left just for herself, which wasn't much at all as she was now down to one packet of noodles, a bag of rice and a single piece of chicken breast. She wished she had gone grocery shopping last week, but wishing was hopeless now and right now she didn't have enough food to last her through the morrow.

The Bruises had begun to fade from a dark purple to a light yellow and with a few touches to her hair the one on her cheek was barely visible, she wore a long sleeved heather grey t-shirt to hide the bruise on her arm and her old pair or ripped jeans to finish her outfit off. She stopped at the door for a few minutes before unlocking it and ten more minutes later she found herself at the entrance to the apartment building, it was dusk outside and the boardwalk was just starting to fill and as much as she didn't want to go outside at night it was safer that way as there were lots of people around. She'd prefer to be surrounded by a sea of people compared to none at all. Counting herself lucky that the small grocery shop was close to where she lived along the main strip she made the journey in little over five minutes, it was also in the complete opposite direction of the Comic Book shop next door. The boys would hopefully never ever realise that she had left the apartment in the first place.

Alan had come by once more since his first attempt on Sunday and even Edgar had accompanied him, but only once. They had been heading off to school Monday morning and her guilt had doubled as she sat on her couch and once again ignored the knocking on her front door. She vowed she would make it up to both of them when her skin had cleared up, she had absolutely no idea what she was going to do but she'd make sure they both knew how sorry she was.

The small shop could hardly be called a grocery shop, it was a tiny little store that only held the necessities but it would have to do until Danielle felt comfortable to venture out past the Santa Carla Boardwalk and to the nearest shopping district to get more of a variety – though she wasn't going to complain. Soon enough she was stocking up on eggs, bread, milk and bottled water. She paid for her purchases and smiled warmly at the man behind the counter before heading back out of the shop and towards her apartment building once more, she only had two bags but those two bags would do her until further notice.

When Danielle had left her apartment building she had a very, very far and distant thought about once again running into Marko or Paul and how funny it had all been at the time and how funny it would be once again if it were to happen, when a girl with bleached blonde hair knocked into her nearly causing both bags to fall she wasn't surprised in the slightest - what surprised her was the blonde boy with an arm around her shoulder sending her a large, toothy grin.

"Danny!" Paul shouted in excitement and she hoped for dear life that her hair was still hiding the side of her face well enough "Where have you been girl? Haven't seen you in weeks, hiding in that apartment of yours no doubt huh?"

"Something like that" Danielle laughed, looking to her feet awkwardly "How have you been Paul?"

"Good, good, when are we going to do that full tour of the boardwalk we were talking about? We barely got to show you half last time" he asked and she couldn't help but notice the girl he was with growing annoyed as his attention was focused elsewhere

"Maybe next week, I'm booked this week and I wouldn't have enough time to do the full tour with the time that I have" she smiled, the lie coming easy off her tongue. Lying was not a nice talent, neither was it a good one but their was no doubt in her mind that Paul would believe her – which is why she was so surprised when he scrunched his eyebrows slightly at her words and wore a deep look of concentration

"You sure, not one spare hour or two this week?" He asked

"I'm sure" she nodded "Next week though, I promise"

"Alright girl" Paul said, grin back in its place like nothing had ever happened "See you around all right?"

"See you" Danielle waved with her spare hand and smiled towards the girl before turning and making her way back home. She always ran into them, always, whenever she ventured outside of the four walls she called home she just happened to run into one of those boys and it made her want to laugh. If she believed in such things she would have called it 'meant to be' or even 'fate'.

Another thing Danielle didn't count on was seeing Edgar outside of the comic book shop when she was walking towards her apartment building, before she could do anything he had already seen her and fixed her with a look that she hadn't seen in quite some time. Edgar made his way towards her, not looking happy at all as he did so "What is going on with you?" he asked "Alan has been worried, we've been to see you twice, you won't answer the door but you're up and walking around out here?"

"Can we please not cause a scene?" she asked quietly, looking around for Alan "Come with me – oh come on Edgar, just hurry up and don't – don't tell Alan okay?"

The sudden decision to tell Edgar was an incredibly hard one, but she knew deep down that he would handle it better than Alan would and that he wouldn't tell brother a thing if she made him swear not too. Five minutes later she was packing away her things, her hair now tied up and out of her face while Edgar stands by her side eying the bruise with a fierce glare "The guys that tried to shoplift, they caught up with me after I left to get Chinese. I didn't say anything because I didn't want either of you to worry; you know how Alan can be with these types of things" she explained, not wanting to go into all of the details with the younger boy. She probably wouldn't ever go into detail to anyone.

"They did this to you?" he asked "You should have just said something Danielle"

"As I said before, I didn't want either of you to worry or blame yourselves, I can take care of myself" she smiled, finally looking towards the younger boy standing next to her "Seriously, I'm fine, I just didn't want either of you to see me like that"

"You worry about everyone else, you take care of everyone else and you pay no attention to yourself whatsoever do you?" Edgar asked, shaking his head slightly "You know, being selfless is a good thing but sometimes it's pretty fucking stupid too. I won't tell Alan anything but don't expect me to lie for you again you hear?"

"I hear" she nodded, his words echoing through her head "I won't ask you to do this again, I promise"

"Good" he grumbled "I'm gonna' go, you, take care or - whatever"

"I will"


	5. Fighting

**Chasing Ghosts  
Chapter Five:** Fighting  
**Words: **3,917  
**Update: **15.3.2015**  
Notes:** Hey guys, I wanted to update sooner, but time is a bit of an issue at the moment and I'm still trying to figure out how to get where I want to go without rushing everything. I hope you all enjoy the latest chapter and thank you all so much for the ongoing support this story has received.  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Lost Boys.  
**Warnings:** Nothing kinky yet fellow readers, just a language warning for the upcoming chapter.

**-0-**

Danielle couldn't help but smile as she woke up on Monday morning and looked in the mirror, noticing that the bruise on her face had completely faded, the one on her arm was still a little yellow but that was nothing a simple cardigan couldn't fix. As promised Edgar hadn't said a word to Alan, but that didn't stop her feeling positively awful about lying to one half of the Frog brothers but it was necessary, or at least that's what she kept telling herself over and over again. She dressed in her work clothes and brushed her hair up and into a ponytail, stepping into her shoes just before she left her apartment and closing the door behind her. She greeted the Frog brothers as they made their way to school and she couldn't help but smile at Alan Frog who she had missed quite a lot over the past week, Edgar on the other hand greeted her with the cold shoulder but that was something she had been expecting. Deep down she knew that if it had been the opposite way around Edgar would have acted no differently than she had.

She arrived at work five minutes early as usual and greeted her bosses who were glad to see her back and she had to admit she had missed them as well. Even though both of her bosses were in their late sixties they both had a wicked sense of humour that always had her in stitches and even though all she did was wait tabled everyday to make a living she found that she had missed that too. There were only so many books that you could re-read over and over again to take up your time. During her week off she had drawn another picture of Marko's patched jacket and as soon as she had finished it she had put her book away and vowed not to pick it up again until she had the image and thought out of her head. She didn't think it was exactly a bad thing, at least she wasn't actually drawing him right? How mortifying would it be if he ever found out?

Her shift flew by in the blink of an eye, usually the diner wasn't at all that busy during the day but today she found it relatively eventful and before she knew it the little clock on the far wall read 5:00 but to her dismay Gemma was still nowhere insight. Waiting back a few more minutes her frown began to deepen and her two elderly bosses waved the no-show off

"You go on dear" Anna said "Don't you worry"

"It's picking up" she insisted "I wouldn't feel right leaving the two of you here by yourselves"

"Well, if you'd like you can stay til' around seven, that's when Tina is coming in" said Jeremy "But only if you'd like. We'll pay you double of course"

"That's fine" the younger girl smiled, though deep down a small voice in the back of her head was whispering about nightfall and it was enough the make the hairs on the back of her neck stand straight. She had still not been outside at night since she had gone to get groceries the week before and she wasn't planning on changing that anytime soon. Of course she was going to have to face her fear but she would have liked if it had have been later rather than sooner.

The Diner had never been busier in her experience of working their and time was simply soaring by. She was dreading leaving, dreading the small walk back to her apartment. Every minute or so she would glance outside and notice the sun setting, she kept glancing until the sun had set completely and the only lights that lit up the boardwalk were the lights of the Carousel, the roller-coaster and the lamp posts that lined the streets.

"Thank you dear, you should go" Anna shooed "You've done enough for the day"

"Okay" Danielle nodded, forcing a small grin on her face before she collected her bag and slowly took her leave "I'll see you both in the morning, goodnight"

"We'll be here sweetheart" Anna waved "You have a nice night alright"

Danielle stepped out into the busy Santa Carla boardwalk and took a large breath, exhaling slowly before making her way hastily towards her apartment building and trying her hardest to keep in the very centre of the crowd to make sure that she was surrounded by people at all times. Keeping her head down as she walked she tried hard not to get in anyone's way, not stopping once and the only time she lifted her face was when she had to see where she was going, luckily she knew the route very, very well by now and only had to do so a few times. She made it to the comic shop within minutes and as she lifted her head her smile faltered – Marko and Paul were leaning against the brick wall of the comic shop and they seemed to be waiting for her. How long they had been there before she arrived she would never know, but she was curious all the same.

"Hey girl" Paul greeted with the large grin he always seemed to wear "You said that we'd do the rest of that tour this week, so here we are"

"Oh" she said in surprise, having completely forgotten about the promise she had made. Or that Paul himself had even remembered in the first place and that he was now right here with Marko by his side, still wearing his patched jacket "I just got off of work"

"We'll wait" said Marko, his arms crossed over his chest with that crooked grin set on his face, he looked her up and down very slowly before meeting her eyes once more "Unless you wanna' come dressed like that?"

"I'll go up and change" she said, hoping that she wasn't blushing while she fished for her keys out of her bag as she made her way up to her apartment. Once she was inside she stripped out of her uniform and slipped into her favourite pair of ripped jeans, sliding into a white singlet she opted to say with the cardigan she had worn to work to cover the ugly, yellow bruise that decorates her left arm. The last thing she wanted to do was to make-up some poor explanation for that. Slipping into some boots she made her way back down the three two flights of stairs and smiled at the two blondes who were still leaning against wall of the comic book shop waiting patiently for her arrival.

"Alright let's go" Paul grinned "And the tour begins, we made it to the Carousel last time but this time we gotta' check out the rollercoaster"

"I don't do rollercoasters, I swear I said that last time"

"I know, I know, but we gotta' check it out anyway" Paul insisted

"No point arguing with him" Marko said from beside her "You'll never win"

"That you won't" Paul shouted from ahead of her.

It wasn't that she thought she was going to have a bad time, it was that she didn't know either of the boys well enough to think that she would actually enjoy herself. To say she was happy when her thoughts were proven wrong was an understatement. Soon she was enjoying herself with Marko and Pauls' company, the events of the week before long gone from her mind. Paul cracked jokes often and his personality itself was enough to make her want to laugh, he flirted with every second girl he saw and most of them fell for his charm as soon as they set eyes on him. Marko on the other hand was a lot more quite than Paul, nonetheless he was polite kind and she enjoyed walking by his side and the conversations they soon had. Looking over it, she paid more attention to his words rather than Paul who was still trying his best to give her the full tour of the Boardwalk.

"Do you even read comics?" Marko asked

"I like wonder woman – hey, don't give me that look, she's a queen in my eyes"

"Hey, I wasn't giving you a look" the blonde defended, though his cheeky smile spoke otherwise "I was just surprised that's all"

"X-men as well, I enjoy x-men"

"Ah, so you _do_ have taste after all"

"I have taste" she defended "Wonder Woman is great taste, as I said before, she is Queen"

"If you say so-"

"Hey, when you're both done flirting" Paul shouted and Danielle felt herself flush at his words. Marko on the other hand only shook his head

"Well, we're done now" he replied, Danielle didn't think she could grow redder if she tried – hopefully neither noticed in the lighting "What do you want?"

"Nothing" Paul shrugged, though he had a little twinkle in his eye as he eyed his two companions

"You're an ass" Marko said, shaking his head once more "Go find some Barbie to entertain yourself with"

"That's a good idea man but annoying you is a better one" Paul shouted, weaving his way backwards through the crowd "And we haven't even finished the tour yet!"

"We've been going in circles for the past half an hour, you have no idea what you've even doing man" Marko laughed, wrapping one of his arms around Paul's shoulders "No idea"

"Marko, I am a profession tour guide" Paul grinned "A professional, you hear?"

"Oh I hear" Marko nodded sarcastically "One of the best in the business, you should get paid for your fantastic services"

"See! That's what I think" Paul laughed

Danielle watched on as the boys swapped their playful banter, it made her laugh and the weariness about going outside after nightfall slowly slipped away until it had nearly been forgotten. She had not thought of the incident since she had stepped outside and her 'tour' with the boys had begun and if you had asked her why she wouldn't have been able to tell you, maybe it was because they were still so new that the both of them and their conversations took up most of her mind or maybe it was due to something else entirely. The three continued to walk around the boardwalk as the crowds grew larger and larger, Marko and Paul would muck around or she and the boys would talk about anything and everything, from likes and interests to questions that made her wonder where they had possibly gotten the idea from in the first place

"Vampires or Werewolves" Paul asked, shooting Marko a large grin

"Vampires" Danielle smiled, not even giving the question a second thought

"Why" Marko asked seriously, though she wasn't fazed by his sudden change in demeanour

"You might grow bored while I explain" she admitted "One of the reasons being is that I always preferred vampire books over werewolf books, another being that there are so many different stories to vampires, you kind of don't know what ones to believe you know? Can they actually walk in the sun? Does garlic really affect them? Does a cross even work? So many different stories contradict the laws of vampires and I find that quite interesting. I also like the idea of a vampire more than a werewolf, I mean; vampires don't uncontrollably turn into beasts on a full moon do they?"

"That was a long answer" Paul noted and she smiled in response

"Well, I hope I didn't bore you Paul"

"But vampires are beasts too" Marko said seriously "They hurt people, they kill people too"

"They do, but at least they have some control over it" she countered, meeting Marko's gaze "As a vampire, really you could pick anyone to feed on, I'm sure that a vampire would be able to pick someone relatively bad to feed on, to kill if they had to. Vampires are seen as evil creatures by default but I don't think that's very fair, what happened to them might not have been their choice; they might have even been dying when they were turned and becoming a Vampire was the only possible option to save them. I know I'm rambling but I don't know, I defend what I feel strongly for. I guess you could say the same when it comes to Werewolves really, but at least a Vampire has some slight sense of control when it comes to feeding"

Marko was left speechless at Danielle's point of view and even Paul had no idea what to say in return, all they could do was follow after her as she took the lead in walking around the boardwalk and share a knowing glance with each other before asking the next question

"So why are you here?" Paul asked "Runaway central, Santa Carla, murder capital of the world"

"I needed a change" Danielle smiled, shrugging her shoulders like it was any other topic of conversation "What about the both of you?"

"Seemed like a good idea" Paul grinned

"How long have you known each other?" she asked

"A while" Marko laughed "Quite a while"

She knew they were being vague but she didn't grow frustrated as others might have done if they were in her situation. Who was she to judge anyway as she was very similar when it came to answering questions about her past life before Santa Carla

"What else" she asked herself "Favourite hobby?"

"Surfing" Paul said, Marko snorted at his answer

"You surf?" she asked, her voice full of unshed laughter and a trace of doubt

"I do" he replied proudly

"I didn't picture you as a surfer" she replied honestly "When I first saw you I thought you were a model for sure"

She didn't say the words to be funny, she was simply being honest, what she didn't expect was Marko's laughter and Paul's annoyed look. Paul slapped Marko across the back of the head but it didn't detain his laughter in the slightest, eventually they ended up play fighting in the middle of the boardwalk leaving her off to the side to watch on in amusement. She ended up laughing lightly at the show before she caught the eyes of an all too familiar face of James, one of the boys from the incident that had occurred last week. In the blink of an eye he was gone but she knew she wasn't seeing things, she knew what she had saw and she knew without a doubt that James had gone to find his friend Bo.

"What's next" Danielle asked nervously, both of the boys stopped what they were doing and looked at her curiously "Surely theirs more that I haven't seen"

"Sure" Paul nodded, eyeing Marko before continuing their way through the thick crowd. Danielle shoved Bo and James to the back of her mind and forced herself to pay attention to the conversations she was having with Marko and Paul, she refused to think or even picture either of the boys from the week before.

"Favourite type of flower" Marko asked, Paul said something under his breath at the question which Marko responded with another slap to the back of the head

"Tulips, they've always been my favourite since I was little. We used to have them in our backyard"

"Favourite type of food" Paul asked

"Chinese" Danielle said but as she spoke the words she couldn't help but remember the shattering of the glass window and that she still hadn't even been back since that night, even though she had sworn to herself that she would pay that family back for the window that had practically been her fault. Once again she suddenly felt terrible about herself and had absolutely no idea when or how she was going to set foot back inside of Ichi Ban.

"You okay?" Marko asked, she shook her head and cleared her thoughts once more

"Of course" she smiled "Favourite drink"

Paul laughed loudly at her question and Marko grinned knowingly towards his friend

"You wouldn't believe us if we told you girl" Paul laughed "Next question"

"Okay-"

"Who the hell do they think they're looking at?" Paul asked in annoyance, cutting off the question that she had been about to ask

"Man, just leave it for later" Marko said, following Paul's gaze and finding the two boys that were openly staring at them "Don't start something"

"I won't start something if they look somewhere else" Paul said, narrowing his eyes at the boys who were still looking in their direction. Danielle had grown quiet upon seeing the two familiar faces and had now shrunk back a little, she had hoped that she could lose James in the crowds but luck obviously hadn't been on her side - again. Bo and James stood staring at Danielle with knowing looks, now not only did they want revenge as she had them both caught for shoplifting but they now also wanted revenge for her getting away. She had no idea what she could possibly do right now, she didn't want to rely on Marko and Paul to get her out of the situation and she didn't want to bring them any harm because of her - for what she had gotten herself into the week before.

"I need to go" She said abruptly "I have to go, I need to get back to my apartment - I'll see you both later" she turned and tried to walk into the crowd but didn't count on somebody holding her back, she turned once more to see Marko looking at her with confusion in his eyes

"What's wrong?" he asked, but she was nowhere near close to opening up to him about the week before

"Nothing, I'm just really tired" she lied, glancing to where his hand was holding her arm, funny enough it wasn't too far from where she was bruised

"You sure?" he asked, taking her in once more. He suddenly reminded her of David and how she had felt when he seemed to be reading her like a book.

"I just really need to go - I suddenly don't feel very well, that's all" Danielle said as calmly and as sincerely as she possibly could

"What are you staring at?" Paul shouted suddenly "You got a problem?"

"Is it because of those guys?" Marko asked "Danielle c'mon, they won't do anything and if they do Paul and I are more than capable of handling ourselves"

At that moment Danielle couldn't help but think about what had happened the week before and think about how wrong Marko was in that moment. She peeked around Marko and saw that Bo and James were making their way towards Paul with haste with a look of pure determination set upon their faces

"Do you know them?" Marko asked seriously, taking a step towards Danielle, his hand still sitting on her arm "Danielle what did they do?"

"Nothing" she said as firmly as she could, meeting his eyes once more "I don't know them I just, I need to go, I really don't feel that flash Marko-"

"Look somewhere else" Paul shouted again, finally toe to toe with the two boys who had been staring at her down – though he didn't know that just quite yet "What's your problem huh?"

"Danielle" Marko said, looking into her eyes with determination, his second hand coming to rest on her other arm "What did they do?"

Danielle had no words; she was too busy staring at Bo and James again who were now facing off with Paul, Paul who had grown unnaturally quiet especially in the face of what could be a fight. Marko released his gentle hold on her and joined Paul's side.

"Give us the girl" Bo said, pointing towards Danielle with anger "And we'll leave, we have unfinished business to get to"

"Yeah like we'd do that" Paul laughed mockingly "How do you know Danielle huh?"

"We had a run in last week" James spoke up "It was cut a little short though"

At that moment Paul turned to face Danielle, his brows scrunched in confusion. Suddenly he walked towards her with a newly found determination and studied her face for a moment before grabbing a hold of her left arm "Hey-" but her words were ignored as Paul shoved up the sleeve of her cardigan to reveal the bruising that she had been trying to hide, it was still very ugly and yellow and she had nothing to explain it, absolutely nothing

"Did they do this?" Paul asked, staring right through Danielle "Did they? Did they do this to you?"

"Yeah they did" Marko said, taking a step towards Bo "That's why she's so on edge, that's why she wants to get out of here"

"What are you gonna do huh?" Bo asked "We'll beat the living shit out of you two"

"The living shit huh?" Paul asked, joining Marko's side "That's funny, that's really funny"

"It ain't gonna be funny when you're lying face down in a pool of your own blood asshole" James sneered "Well, to us it will be"

"What's funny is that you think you could land a single hit on either of us" Paul laughed "That's what's funny"

"Really" Bo asked, taking a step forward "That's funny huh"

"A fucking riot" Paul growled

"Give us the fucking girl" Bo shouted "I want her; I want to finish what I started"

"You're not going to land a single finger on her" Marko snarled "Try, I double dog dare you to even try"

"Sounds like a challenge, or maybe not" he laughed.

Bo took a step as if he was trying to walk between Marko and Paul to make his way towards where Danielle stood – but he didn't get very far, a split second later Marko had Bo's arm twisted around his back in an odd hold. From her point of view it didn't look very painful but the cry he let out told her otherwise. He wasn't done though, Marko continued to pull and twist Bo's arm even more and once again he let out a shriek of pain

"Challenge huh?" Marko asked with anger "I don't see much of a challenge scumbag"

James on the other hand only had the chance to take a single step before Paul's fist hit him square in the jaw and in a matter of seconds he was flat on his back and looked to be knocked out by Paul's right hook. Paul laughed at the boy before him

"Come looking for her again and you'll end up far worse than your friend" Marko sneered, twisting Bo's arm just a little more "Far, far worse, you hear me?"

"Y-yeah" Bo whimpered and a few seconds later Marko twisted once more and the sound that escaped him was as though it had come from a girl, not a boy of who looked to be no older than nineteen. Marko dropped his hold and Danielle watched as Bo fell to his knees, cradling his arm next to his friend who lay knocked out beside him. As he knelt on the ground he stared her down, she had no idea what he was trying to convey to her and she certainly wasn't about to stick around to find out.

"You okay?" Marko asked

"I'm okay" she responded.


	6. Telling

**Chasing Ghosts  
Chapter Six: **Stories  
**Updated: **15.3.2015  
**Words: **3,489  
**Notes:** This chapter picks up right where we left off. In this chapter we're going to go back into a little bit of Danielle's childhood. Thanks to all who keep reviewing and adding this story to their favourites, words can't express once again how much it truly means to me.  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Lost Boys, only Danielle and her story.  
**Warning:** Mild language throughout the chapter.

**-0-**

"You're a very convincing liar" Marko said quietly, standing by Danielle's side as she watched Bo drag James to his feet and with a quite a bit of effort he is able to sling an arm around his shoulder to help him stand upright.

"Anyone can tell a convincing lie if they try hard enough" she said, looking on as Bo and James made their way through the small crowd that had formed to watch the fight go down "It isn't that hard, or well, I don't think so anyway"

"Trust me when I say that you're good" Marko said, turning to look at her who now refused to meet his gaze "I'm good at reading people, Paul is too, not for a second did we think that there was something up until, well, you know this all happened"

"I don't like lying" she muttered, to herself mostly "It makes me feel terrible, but I believe that if it's for the right reasons lying can sometimes be okay, I guess"

"Hey, I ain't judging" Marko shrugged "Trust me, I'm not, I'm just surprised I didn't see it sooner - that's all"

"Well that was fun, though I wished he coulda' put in a bit more fight, that was just embarrassing" Paul laughed, joining Danielle and Marko who had been standing off to the side "So girly, what was that all about anyway, you gonna' tell us what started all of that?"

"It seems to me like you already know, you were the one that pulled up my sleeve and saw the bruising" she shrugged before eyeing Paul though she didn't ponder on it too much and before long a small smile made it's way to her lips "So you tell me Mr. Right hook"

"It seemed obvious" Paul said, glancing to Marko quickly "There wasn't much to put together after some of the shit they said and everything. Hey, wait a minute - you should have said something when we ran into each other, this could have all been sorted by now" he frowned

"I don't like depending on people, especially ones I haven't known for very long. Wait, please don't take I personally-" she began, taking in Paul's expression "I just, I don't like having to depend on people, and it doesn't matter, I've been through worse, I've seen a lot worse than what I received from those two"

"What did they do?" Marko asked seriously "Was it more than what they did to your arm?"

"It doesn't matter now" she shook her head "I heal pretty quick"

"Sheesh girl, you talk like you get slapped around on a daily basis" Paul said, looking her up and down "And you ain't even, sad, or anything, you talk like it's something that happens on a daily basis. That shit ain't normal"

"I have to go now anyway" Danielle said, smiling to Paul and ignoring the words he had just said to her, though they still struck a chord within her - maybe she wasn't normal after all, he had a very good point "It's getting late and I think I've had enough excitement for the night"

"I'll walk to back" Marko insisted "Don't think about declining the offer, I'm coming whether you like it or not"

"Okay" she nodded, though still avoided his eyes at all costs.

Embarrassment and ashamed were two things she could possibly say to describe what she felt after having seen Marko and Paul get involved in her situation, she liked to handle things on her own even if they didn't work out very well most of the. Most of all she hated being a burden which is what she felt like she was right now. As she walked by Marko's side through the boardwalk she ignored the stares she was receiving with ease, she hardly noticed them at all in fact as her mind was still buzzing over the fight that had only occurred five minutes ago. Satisfaction was also a word she could use to describe how she currently felt but that soon disappeared, as much as it may have been satisfying she disliked and avoided violence of any kind at all cost.

"You know, it's okay" Marko began, breaking the silence that had developed "You're not like, weak, or whatever it is you must be thinking right now, don't go all quiet and embarrassed on me now alright? What happened back there happened and there isn't any changing that, Paul and I sorted it and if we find out they do anything else we'll sort it again. We made the decision to fight and we'd do it again, so don't worry so much"

At first she was completely shocked at his words, she barely knew him for crying out loud! But she still couldn't help but smile at how sincere he sounded and for the first time since before the fight she met his gaze and silently thanked him for all that he had done. Worry and embarrassment was fading by the second – maybe she could call Marko and Paul friends after all.

"You seem to know exactly what I'm thinking" She shook her head "And it's amazing"

"Amazing huh" Marko said, though he didn't sound so convinced

"Yeah, it really is"

"You said that uh-" Marko cleared his throat awkwardly as he tried to figure out how to begin the conversation, he looked awfully troubled but she waited patiently for him to continue nonetheless "That you'd received worse, that you saw worse. You wanna talk about it?"

Talking about her life before Santa Cara was something that she didn't do, not because she didn't want too but because no one really asked. Edgar and Alan were still young; they weren't exactly children but young enough and didn't think about the serious questions like the one Marko had just asked. She smiled sadly, maybe one day they would ask and maybe one day she'd tell them.

"You want to come up?" she asked

"What?" he asked in confusion

"We're back at my apartment, if you want to listen to me talk about how things were before here then I highly suggest we do it sitting down at least"

Marko didn't think twice before following her inside and up the two flights of stairs, nor did he have to ask to be let in as Danielle greeted him inside as she opened the door. He couldn't help but think how silly she was for inviting someone like _him_ inside her apartment, but he pushed that aside quickly and decided that tonight he was going to be just a little bit selfish.

"My life in Santa Carla is amazing compared to how I used to live" she smiled, looking over her tiny apartment which she had truly grown to love "I've always been like this though, I've been described as too kind for my own good which apparently isn't a good thing all of the time, in my old life it wasn't, not really anyway"

"You know you don't have to talk about it" Marko insisted "I mean, don't get me wrong I'm all ears but, I don't want to make you er, uncomfortable or anything"

"I don't mind talking about it, I feel like I can put my trust in you" she smiled before taking a seat, Marko on the other hand chose to lean against the wall opposite her instead of the spare seat beside her "My mother was never a nice person, she was very vindictive, hurtful and cruel at the best of times. She had a severe, _severe_ drinking problem and before that it was all different types of pills and drugs as well, though she insisted she was clean I never could truly believe her words. My mother grew angry and depressed when she drank, which was every single day, and I looked after her"

"That must have been hard" Marko said quietly, eyeing the girl in front of him while trying incredibly hard to listen to her words and not her thoughts – something that is becoming a little easier.

"At first it was, but then it just became routine. She would say horrible things, terrible things but I always told myself it was just because she was drunk and that she couldn't help herself. After a while she started cutting herself too, deeply and brutally, she was in the hospital more times than I can count because she had injured herself so bad. After that she became violent and hostile towards me and I kept telling myself that it was alright, that I was okay and that my mother wasn't to blame for her actions. All of this was happening in front of my eyes and I saw it as normal, a normal day and a normal night. Not to mention the amount of men she bought back to our home, there was a different man every single week and she was convinced that she was in love with every single one of them. When um, the men she bought home started noticing me – that was when I had to draw a line, which was when I woke up. I had to leave" she paused, remembering packing a bag full of books and cramming in what clothes she could "Santa Carla wasn't planned, the lady at the bus shelter said that that's where most of the runaways go, so here I am"

"You're happy" Marko said "How can you be happy? It's not the worst I've heard but it's still pretty damn bad"

"Because I don't see a point in dwelling on the past" she smiled "What good would that do? Would it make me a better person in the long run? Would it eventually make me happier if I was often sad? I don't think so. Many people deal with their problems in their own unique ways, I accept my problems and the things that happened to me and I moved on and I think that I'm a better person because of that" she didn't think she was making any sense and truly hoped that Marko could understand where she was coming from, growing suddenly nervous because she had just bared her soul to a boy, an attractive boy who she was now alone with.

"I think that you're one of the most unique people I have ever met" Marko said quietly "I have met a lot of people in my time and I can't compare you to a single one"

Barely ten minutes ago Paul had told her she wasn't very normal, those words were now completely forgotten and instead Marko's now took their place. In all of her time she had been called many, many things and many names but unique had never been one of them.

**-0-**

"Homemade pizza?" Alan asked with joy "That sounds so good!"

"I'll bring you both down some when it's all done cooking" Danielle smiled, looking to Edgar who still hadn't said much to her since he found out about Bo and James "Do you like anything particular on yours Edgar?"

"Whatever Alan has" he mumbled before turning around and walking through the aisles of the comic book shop, she couldn't help but frown as she watched his back.

"I don't know what you did" Alan said in confusion, a hand running through his short hair "I'm sorry for his behaviour"

"Don't be" she shook her head, once again feeling awful about the lie she had now pulled Edgar into "I'm sure he had his reasons – we're always fine in the end aren't we?"

"Whatever you say" Alan shrugged "It's just weird, you were both getting along, I mean I was pretty sure he had taking a liking to you once he realized you were alright you know? But now it's like we're at the start all-over again"

"I know" she forced another smile, meeting Alan's gaze "Anyway I'm going to start making the pizza's, I shouldn't be very long, try not to snack out on candy while I'm up there okay?"

"Okay" Alan smiled, watching as she walked from behind the counter and towards where Edgar stood re-arranging the Superman comics.

"I get that you're mad" Danielle said softly "And that's fine with me, but I need you to understand that I don't like getting people involved in my business, I deal with personal matters on my own and that's how I always have been. I'd also like you to think about what you would have done if you were in my shoes, would you have run for help from your two neighbours? I don't think so" and with that she left the comic book shop and Edgar behind with a new outlook on the situation that had ocured. He couldn't help but think that she was right.

It had only been a few nights since the showdown between Marko, Paul, Bo and James and Danielle hadn't seen either of her two newly found friends since, but as she stepped out into the boardwalk the first person she noticed was David leaning against the shop wall opposite to her and staring right in her direction. She smiled and waved to him before heading next door and into her apartment, taking no offense to the fact that he hadn't done anything in response and not waiting around to see if he might have done. It only took her half an hour to make the pizzas and then she was on her way back down to the comic shop, hoping that Edgar had listened to her words and had taken at least some of it in.

"Thanks Danielle, you're the best" Alan smiled before taking a slice and digging in, she glanced towards Edgar and noticed he too was taking a piece

"Thanks" He said, meeting her eyes quickly before focusing on his pizza, she smiled at the progress that had been made and then she too ate a slice.

Neither of the boys knew about the fight that had occurred the other night but she saw no need to tell them, or Edgar anyway – what was the point? Alan didn't know about the incident in the first place and she didn't think it would have affected Edgar either way - it had happened and it was over, that's what she thought of the matter anyway. But to be honest she hadn't thought about the incident that had occurred in days; the bruising on her arm had now faded completely leaving her with no more visible reminders. The once thing that had occupied her thoughts over the last few days was what the morrow would hold, tomorrow when she woke up it would be her seventeenth birthday. It had been years since she had celebrated it and she knew that this year would be absolutely no different. Honestly she didn't mind, it'd been a while since she thought of the day as any of the week.

"You seem to be thinking hard" Alan pointed out, shaking her form her thoughts

"Just going over what I could possibly cook next, I don't' want to repeat meals too much" she said with a smile, not a total lie – she had been thinking of recipes' earlier

"Anything is fine" Edgar said "Better than carnival food at least"

"That is a good point" she laughed, thinking to all of the times when all Alan and Edgar did was eat fast food, candy and ice cream. The thought still made her a little sad some days but she shook her head clear for the time being "Anyway, I'm going to head out"

"Out?" Edgar asked with a frown "With your new friends again?"

"No, I just want to go for a walk, that's all" she smiled, which was the truth – if she happened to run into either Marko or Paul it was just a bonus.

Walking around with Marko and Paul the other night had been more fun than she had imagined it would be, the company was great for one but she found she truly did enjoy the lights and the sounds that that the boardwalk held, the happiness made her happy. True – she was still incredibly cautious about going out alone and she was probably a bit silly for doing it in the first place – but heck, if she stayed in the popular and crowded areas she saw no reason not to go outside. That and the chances of them coming after her again after what Marko and Paul did were very slim to none.

"Okay then" Edgar nodded "Stay safe and don't talk to people you don't know okay, and we're still working on getting that stake for you, wait do you have any holy water? I can get you some-"

"I'm good" she insisted, trying her hardest not to smile at the Vampire comments "I won't be out for long anyway"

"I'm still getting you a stake" he mumbled and she shook her head and went on her way, taking no notice of David who was still leaning against the wall across the street and not having moved a single inch.

She walked around the boardwalk for hours, sidestepping through the crowds of people as she did while taking in all of the colours, lights and cries from around her. The hour grew late but the crowd didn't wither and before she knew it had turned into the next day – but she gave it no notice. Danielle continued to walk around until she started to notice how the crowd was fading and shrinking to smaller numbers before setting off back towards her apartment, waving to Edgar and Alan who were now shutting down their shop as she passed

"Did you have any problems?" Edgar asked, frown present

"Not tonight" she grinned "Goodnight boys, I'll see you in the morning before I go to work"

Before heading into her apartment building she glanced across the street to where David had been standing earlier that day and she couldn't help but wonder what he could have possibly been up do – but the thoughts soon faded as she arrived at her front door. Changing into a pair of old shorts and a large, baggy t-shirt she retrieved her sketch book and continued drawing from where she had left off from the night before – once again it was a sketch of Marko's unique jacket. She was starting to form a little bit of a collection, as depressing as she thought that was – though she didn't linger on her strangeness before going back to one of the many skulls.

It was closing in on two in the morning when Danielle was interrupted from her work by a soft knocking at her door; she glanced towards it with caution and interest before rising to her feet. Who could possibly be knocking on her door so early in the morning? Bo and James flashed before her eyes and they were both soon followed by the Frog brothers – surely nothing serious had happened? Opening the door slowly she blinked as she took in Marko's form, the surprise was evident on her face "What – what on Earth are you doing here? It's so early?"

"Yeah" Marko laughed lightly, running a hand through his long hair awkwardly "Yeah, I uh, I saw that your light was still on from the street and I wanted to say, yeah could I actually come in?"

"Yeah – of course" she said without a hesitation, opening the door wider before walking back into the apartment "Just close the door behind you, please"

Marko did as he was asked but that wasn't before he took in the lack of clothing Danielle was dressed in, he was taking in the sight of her bare legs slowly before he caught himself and scalded himself mentally for his thoughts – locking the door behind him before looking to her once more.

"I uh, I was looking for you for a while, but I couldn't find you, on the boardwalk that is" Marko began "Your neighbours said you had gone out"

"Yeah" she grinned "It was nice, to be alone with the crowd and all, kind of joyous actually. You said you needed to say something?"

"Yeah" Marko nodded "I uh, I wanted to say Happy Birthday"

The world stopped and her heart skipped a beat – maybe two.

"What?" she gaped, blinking rapidly as his words once again echoed through her mind "How – how could you possibly know that today is my birthday?"

"Your neighbours told me" Marko shrugged "Anyway, just wanted to wish you a happy birthday, I'm gonna' head off"

And with that Marko was gone, he shut the door behind him and once more left Danielle shocked speechless at his words. Her mind was racing, her pulse quickening – because Alan and Edgar had absolutely no idea about her birthday, no one in Santa Carla did – so how did Marko?


	7. Accompaning

**Chasing Ghosts  
Chapter Seven: **Company  
**Words: **4,319  
**Updated: **15.3.2015**  
Note: **Hello! I give you chapter seven! I am incredibly happy to write this chapter and I would like to thank **PoisonBones **and **tomieharley** for some amazing ideas for the upcoming story. Danielle and Marko will be hanging out a lot more from now on, they won't constantly be together but his presence will be more often in the story from this point forward. I'm sorry I haven't updates sooner but my Harry Potter fic needed a lot of attention and severe editing which has seen most of my spare time as of late. I hope you all enjoy what I have here, thank you all again for staying in tune with my updates **  
Disclaimer:** I do not own the Lost Boys.

**-0-**

Over the next week Danielle kept herself severely busy, she worked incredibly hard during the day while she was waiting tables at the Diner and as soon as she arrived home she was cooking and preparing dinner for herself and her two neighbours. For the first time since it had happened, a week after her birthday had passed, she indeed wondered how Marko could have possibly known when her birthday was but soon pushed it once again into the far corners of her mind and threw away the key. Most people would have thought about it, _normal_ people would have thought about it – maybe even worried about it, questioned it – but not her, Danielle simply chose not to care. He knew and that wasn't going to change anything.

Since her birthday she had not seen Marko, in fact she hadn't seen any of the boys – not Paul or David and Dwayne. Sitting in the comic shop with her sketch book and pencil her attention wasn't on any of them, Marko included or the busy crowd outside. Her attention was solely on the piece of paper in front of her which currently held a half completed drawing of Edgar Frog who was sitting in his favourite chair beside her who was trying to peek over at the page as often as he could.

"I'd be disturbed if it was rubbish" Edgar grumbled

"I'll take that as a compliment then shall I?" she laughed with a shake of her head, deep down she knew he was enjoying it though – he couldn't hide the surprise on his face when she had asked if she could draw him earlier in the night.

"Coming from Edgar, that's a compliment" Alan laughed, joining the two behind the counter to watch Danielle closely as she worked the pencil "Draw me next though"

"Alright" she grinned – she'd draw anything to take her pencil and hand away from the lone book that sat upstairs holding many, many sketches of Marko. It was half of the reason why she was down here at the comic shop in the first place instead of upstairs in her apartment, whenever she was alone she ended up sketching his patched jacket that she had grown to love so much, or his face which always clouded her mind when she was alone as of late. The feelings that were growing inside her for her newly found friend are ones that she refuses to acknowledge and until she literally couldn't help it that's the way that it was going to stay, having absolutely no idea what she was going to do whenever she happened to see him next – not thinking about him is easy said then done when you're without his company.

"Isn't that one of your new friends?" Alan asked, looking towards the tall blonde who had just entered the shop while eyeing his choice of clothing sceptically "Seriously, what guy wears his pants that tight?"

She couldn't help it, she burst into laughter knowing that he just had to be talking about Paul who she had never without those tight, beige pants. Looking up to see if she was correct she smiled upon meeting his eyes, Paul was indeed standing just inside of the entrance with a huge smile on his face and had begun walking to where she sat behind the counter between Alan and Edgar "Hey girl, what's up?"

"Not much Paul, how about yourself?" she asked, placing her pencil on the counter before her

"Bored" he frowned and before she even had the chance to close her sketch book Paul had snatched it from her grasp and started flicking through the pages "Not anymore – damn you're good"

Edgar and Alan glared at the boy but said nothing as Danielle began to laugh "What happened to please?"

Paul stopped looking through the drawings to send Danielle a look that sent shivers down most girls' spines and raised goose bumps on their arms, a single eyebrow rose as he turned his head to the side "Do I look like a guy that uses his manners sweetheart?"

"No, you don't but hey-" she shrugged "-maybe one day you'll surprise us all"

"You're really good, I mean, I didn't see you as someone who liked to draw, reading yeah but not drawing, never would have pictured it" Paul said as he returned to looking back through all of the drawings, ignoring the words that she had just said "You know Marko has a thing for drawing too right?"

"Really" she asked with genuine amusement, a smile lit her face at the news "That's, well, that's cool, is he very good? I can see him being really good"

"He's alright" Paul shrugged, though she knew than to take his words to heart "He'd love to see these, man that eye in here is wicked cool"

Suddenly she grew nervous at the thought of Marko looking through her work, her drawings which she hardly let anyone see. Was there even a reason for it? She didn't think so, maybe it was because he would almost definitely be a lot more talented than she was, or maybe it was because she was just nervous about him somehow finding out about that folder-

"-Danielle" Paul clicked one of his hand in front of her face, successfully pulling her from her thoughts "You spaced out a bit, I'm heading off, you wanna' join?"

"I'm okay" Her mind wondered to the warm comforts of her couch, a mug full of hot chocolate and the thought of a sleep in tomorrow morning "I'm going to head back home soon anyway, another time though"

"You wound me" Paul frowned, holding his hand over his heart and laughing to himself quietly "You truly do girl. But I won't bug ya, not after our last adventure. I'll see you around yeah?" and with that Paul was gone, leaving Alan and Edgar ever so curious as to over what he had meant.

"Last adventure" Alan asked curiously "What happened last time?"

"Oh nothing" she smiled, looking to the younger boy "Paul's just being Paul, nothing to worry about"

"Right" Edgar scoffed "From what I heard, he got into a fight with these two guys twice the size of him, him and his other blonde friend. Were you their?" he looked to Danielle and starred her down, hoping that she hadn't in fact been their when it all went down

"Must of happened after I left" she frowned, feeling a pang of guilt as the lie slid easily from her tongue. She was going to have to stop all of this soon, the lies.

"You really are heading up soon?" Alan asked, changing the topic to a lighter one "It's still only early, barely nine o'clock"

"Soon" she nodded, picking up her sketch book and leaning it against her lap once more "But not right this very moment, I want to get a little bit more of this done first before I head up"

Over the next two hours Danielle worked hard on her drawing of Edgar, she had drawn him from his shoulders upward which left a lot of room for the small details she was currently working on. The red piece of fabric he always sported was drawn in as well as the camouflage pattern of his shirt and not to mention the frown he always seemed to wear. His eyes, nose and mouth were drawn first as well as his ears before she moved onto his eyebrows and the intricate details of his hair. Even though she had said she only wanted to get a little more done over those two hours she had a rough sketch of all the details Edgar currently wore and it was only now that she needed to go over the hair and the shading that she decided to turn it in and head next door.

"Goodnight" she murmured, thinking about the hours she was going to now put into the shading of Edgar's skin or the single strand's she would have to draw for his hair "I'll see you both tomorrow afternoon" as she moved towards the entry of the comic book shop she faintly heard both of the boys chorus their own goodbye

"I thought Paul was being sarcastic" Danielle turned around to find Marko standing just behind her and looking down to the book she held in her hand, he glanced up a moment later and met her eyes "You draw?"

"I, yeah I do – and from what I learned tonight you do as well"

"Indeed" Marko nodded "Where are you headed now?"

"Home, I'm going to shade the piece I've been working on"

"Shading is my favourite part" Marko nodded "You uh, can I come up?"

His question caught her off guard and she tried desperately to hide her surprise "Of course, though I don't know how much fun I'm going to be, I get really into it when I draw"

"Nah, that won't be a problem" Marko grinned and followed after her as she once again lead the way back to her apartment, but not before turning his head and eyeing the two young teenagers that were currently glaring in his direction "Your neighbours don't seem to like me very much"

"Edgar doesn't like anyone very much, to be honest" she shrugged, though Alan was a different story "Alan though, Alan is sweet, I'm sure he's just curious about you. Actually, I know for a fact that they're both curious about you"

"How have you been holding up?" Marko asked, following Danielle up the stairs and tyring his absolute hardest to keep his eyes off of her backside "Since, you know, all the shit those assholes put you through"

"Honestly, I'm fine. For a week or so after it happened I didn't want to leave the apartment at night but that's all good now" Danielle said, speaking truthfully about the incident and how it currently affected her "I haven't seen them since either, I have the feeling you've wanted to ask"

"I have" Marko nodded, walking into Danielle's apartment as she held the door open for him "You know, if you see them I'll – Paul and I will sort it out you really don't need to worry"

He's like a prince. That's what Danielle thought but shook her head a little and cleared those thoughts up as quickly as she could, there simply isn't time for thoughts like that when the boy in question is only a few feet away form you. But it grew hard for her to not think of him that way. She lived in the now and took everything as it is and knew that he wouldn't be their to come riding in on his white horse to protect her every time she needed him to, but the thought of him wanting to help her – knowing that he was willing to help her made her feel incredibly happy.

"Thank you, again" she said shyly "You know, for everything you've done"

"Don't mention it" Marko said, meeting her eyes once more "Seriously"

"Okay, well, I'm going to sit over there and get to work on the shading but, you can uh, please make yourself at home" she said, eyeing the couch before releasing the breath she didn't realise she had been holding - the sketch book full of Marko and his patched jacket was thankfully under the couch and hidden from sight.

"You know I actually bought my own" he grinned and she watched as Marko pulled a small, A5 sized book from the inside of jacket pocket "Though, I admit I need to borrow one of your pencils if you have a spare"

"I - yeah of course, I have plenty" she pointed towards the small dining table where her pencil case sat "Go through that and you'll find whatever you need"

Barely five minutes passed and she found herself sitting on one end of the couch while Marko occupied the other. Marko seemed to be in a completely different world as he set to work but she found it a little but trickier to concentrate on the paper before her which was strange for her – she never used to be able to get distracted from her artwork before. She knew what the problem was – well, she knew _who_ the problem was. Every couple of seconds she often looked over to where the blonde sat at the opposite end of the couch and watched him as he sketched away into the small book that sat on his lap – she enjoyed watching him, not only him but his hands as they set to work on whatever they were currently working on. Fascination flooded through her as she took in his calm and collective form, how smoothly his pencil ran across the paper and how his thumb often smudged the lines that he had just drawn. After half an hour she realised that she was definitely not in her element as since arriving she had only shaded Edgar's nose. If she was caught staring at him – again – she would be absolutely mortified. Again.

To say she was thankful that he hadn't noticed her staring whatsoever was putting it lightly as she would have had absolutely no idea what to say if she had have been. Thoughts of being caught staring made her focus on the drawing before her and finally, after nearly thirty-five minutes she pulled herself into her element and set to work on her portrait of Edgar Frog.

"What are you working on?"

She jumped at how close Marko was, turning she noticed that he had scooted over a seat and was not sitting directly by her side.

"That scared me" Danielle laughed lightly, hoping to who was ever out their that her cheeks were not as red as she thought they were "Um, my, Edgar my neighbour, I was running out of things to draw from my imagination so I moved onto people instead"

"You're very talented" Marko said quietly, one of his fingers ghosting over the work she had spent most of her day on "Can I see your other stuff? If you don't mind"

Danielle met Marko's eyes and shook her head slightly before handing him her sketch book and watched on as he closed to book and opened it up to start from the beginning. Throughout the sketchbook some of the work was only half completed, some only baring rough sketches of ideas that had come to her mind that looked like a bunch or random lines – but the completed ones left Marko speechless. He could admit that he was good; he wasn't a modest person when it came to his art at all but he knew for certainty that Danielle matched his skill with as much grace, elegance and patience. He found quickly that she preferred to draw things from her imagination - that much was obvious, most of the pages were full of some of the most peculiar work he had ever seen such as a very realistic hand clutching a brain within it's palm and an eye drawn so into detail he would have thought it were real apart from the trees that replaced the eyelashes. When it came to her realistic drawings her talent could very well match his own and he noticed her fascination with eyes almost instantly as it was a popular subject amongst the pages. It wasn't the eyes that made him flinch, nor the heart being squeezed by the hand.

When Marko came across an early drawing of what seemed to be a man at first he was absolutely fascinated with the amount of detail she drawn in, especially the hair seeing as every single strand looked to have been drawn in individually and he knew it must have taken her a very long time to complete. It was the small things that stuck out to him; the red eyes and the way they were drawn so fiercely and menacingly, the prominent cheek bones that stood out from a mile away and the two tiny fangs that were just barely visible form the tiny crack of his mouth. Before him was a drawing of a Vampire and the realisation made him flinch in his seat beside her.

"Are you okay?" Danielle asked, though Marko didn't meet her eyes

"Cold shiver" he said after a moment, looking away from the page and focusing back to the girl that was sitting beside him "Nothing to worry about. You're drawings though, they're amazing"

"Thank you" she replied, her cheeks once more growing red as she accepted the compliment "Would you mind if I looked through yours?"

"Not at all" he said, reaching over and grasping his own before handing it to her who grew excited at the thought of looking through the sketches. It had been a while since she had looked through someone else's drawing and she could not wait to see what Marko was capable of.

Marko, she noticed, did not often draw from his imagination and preferred to stick with sketching the people, objects and places that surround him. Some of the pictures included his three friends Paul, David and Dwayne and she found that as she looked to a drawing of Paul she could see the mischief, fun and charismatic person that he was. David's drawings were always serious and Dwayne stoic; though he often drew the bare-chested boy reading from a thick paperback. The drawings she loved most were the ones of the boardwalk and especially the ones of some of the horses on the Carousel; he had put so much detail into the smallest of things that she swore she could tell that one of them was the one she had ridden on the first night she had properly hung out with him and Paul. It just had to be.

"I don't have the words" Danielle said lightly, flicking through the last of the pages "I just don't have anything, they can't express how truly amazing your work is"

"That is the highest compliment someone can receive, so thank you Danielle" Marko nodded, taking the small sketch book as she handed it to him "That's not even my big one, wait until you see that"

"Big one" Danielle asked, her curiosity spiking

"I have an A2 back home, it's rare to find them in stores but I was lucky" Marko grinned "I'll have to show you sometime"

"That would be amazing" Danielle grinned and nodded with newly found enthusiasm "I'd love to see some of your larger work, if you could put that much detail into a smaller book I can't imagine what it's going to look like on paper so big"

The fact that she had just agreed to visit where he lived didn't fly past over her head, not did the fact that it meant that he might want to see her again after tonight. Trying hard not to dwell on those two things she was bought back to where she currently sat, beside Marko as both of their pads lay unopened beside them. It had now been nearly an hour and a half since he had first arrived and they had both spent that entire time drawing, since they hadn't been speaking that much she had no idea where to start.

"When did you start drawing?" Marko asked and she was suddenly incredibly thankful for the topic starter and was more than happy to tell him about her art teacher she had truly loved in high school

"My art teacher that I had in high school taught me everything I knew, which was a lot considering I was horrible when I started-" Marko scoffed "-seriously, I was awful believe it or not. After I spent a year in her class I refused to have another teacher, even if that meant staying in the lower classes. What about you?"

"Since I was a kid" Marko grinned, thinking back to that time long, long ago "Over time it didn't just become a hobby, it became at habit. Soon enough I had a book on me at all times in case I saw something interesting – anything that was special at the time you know? I wanted to be able to keep them with me forever. I guess you could say photography would have been easier but I like that you have to put real time and effort into finishing a drawing, it's a lot more personal than taking a photo"

"And a lot more harder" she agreed "You don't strike me as the type of person that goes for the easiest option"

"You're right, I'm not" he replied, though she missed the hidden meaning behind his words "Do you have any other hobbies?"

"I guess you could say I thoroughly enjoy reading" she laughed, looking over to where her packed bookshelf sits on the corner of the room "Reading has always been so time consuming which was why I fell in love with it in the first place"

"I noticed that" Marko nodded "Looks like you need a bigger bookshelf"

"Looks like it"

"You know" Marko began "You're not like the other runaways"

"And why is that?" she asked, not knowing whether to feel sad or happy about his comment

"You know what you're doing, for starters. You have work, a place to stay that isn't on the streets and you seem pretty happy"

"Is that rare for around here?"

"You have absolutely no idea. Once you've been here for a while, as long as I have, you see people come and go with the blink of an eye"

"They don't call it the murder capital of the world for nothing; I guess" Danielle said, though a slight shiver went through her at the name "Why would so many people living stay here when they know that's what people call it?"

"Bit hypocritical" Marko frowned slightly at her contradicting words "I mean, you live here, right?"

"Right, right, I get it, I mean I still don't really know why I'm still her to be completely honest" she shook her head "I used to think I was smart enough to avoid a situation like that but I guess I was pretty wrong about that"

"Everyone gets into trouble sometimes" he shrugged "Just gotta' accept it and move on"

His words made sense – accept it and move on. As she looked at Marko she remembered David and how he had been standing outside the week before "Also, tell David I say hi"

"David?" Marko frowned, wondering why on Earth she would want to speak to David "Why?"

"Last week, the last time I saw you I noticed he was standing outside of the comic shop" she began and Marko grew confused, soon worrying over her words "I felt a little, awkward I guess and going over and saying hi when I don't know him very well didn't seem like the best option, so I thought I'd greet him through you instead"

"He was outside the comic shop?" Marko asked, hiding his concern well under his curiosity "By himself?"

"Yeah - he may have been staring at me, maybe, I'm not too sure. He can come off as quite intimidating you know"

"You don't seem very intimidated" Marko noted, watching as she relaxed into the seat beneath her without a hint of worry on her face

"I'm not" she shrugged "My first impression of David was - how do I put it? He comes off as the leader type, he's straightforward and blunt and he won't beat around a subject. I think those are admirable traits and I see no reason to be intimidated by them because of that"

To say that he was amazed at her words would be pulling it lightly, he was quite shocked. Never, not once had an outsider explained David in a way that way so, so close to being correct before. When people saw David they grew scared, and intimidated as Danielle had said before, they didn't admire him, at least not until they grew to know him which never, ever happened.

"You, uh, are probably, no you are literally the first person to every say that" Marko laughed "I'm a little shocked at how accurate your words are, David is, he's hard to explain. He's intimidating for all of the right reasons of course but usually he scares people away which was why I uh, I didn't really want you meeting him so early" As soon as he said the words Danielle's stomach fluttered and it only grew worse as he ran a hand through his hair "Paul and I like having you around"

"Well, then I'm glad"

Both of them spent the rest of their night making small talk, very similar to the night when he had confronted Bo and James and she had had her tour of the Boardwalk. The questions varied from the most serious things to the most silly and soon she couldn't help the now permanent smile that graced her face.

"I have to get going" Marko said, looking outside and through the window across from where they sat "We'll do this again though, I mean, I had a good time"

"Me too" Danielle said quietly, meeting Marko's gaze before she stood to her feet and walked towards her front door "Come around, whenever you like, I usually cook for the boys when I get home from work around five to six o'clock but I uh, I'm sure it wouldn't be too much hassle to make enough food for one more"

"I'd really, really like that" He was so close that she had to fight the urge to flinch and she knew, she just knew if she turned around he would be practically touching her. The thought made her blush madly "I'll see you tomorrow then"

**-0-**

**Note: **Progresssssss!


	8. Knowing

**Chasing Ghosts  
Chapter Eight:** Knowing  
**Updated: **15.3.2015  
**Words: **3,381  
**Note:** I am so, terribly sorry for a late update, but things these past two weeks have been absolutely crazy! I have not disappeared though I received such amazing feedback from the last chapter, I'm so happy everyone liked it just as much as I did. **  
Disclaimer:** I do not own the Lost Boys

**-0-**

As much as she tried to keep it at the back of her mind, **Danielle Jones** really, really couldn't tonight which was terrible seeing as Marko was going to be arriving in about twenty or so minutes. All night and all day all she could think about was how on Earth he could have possibly known her birthdate, she knew the gesture was sweet but she had suddenly grown curious upon waking up this morning. Not for a moment did she think that he was stalking her or anything extreme, he didn't really seem like the type after all, but even more so why did he lie and say Edgar and Alan told him about it in the first place?

Questions ran through Danielle's mind as she busied herself making dinner, the menu for the night consisting of chicken chilli stir fry with a side of rice and it would only take he about twenty minutes to cook and serve. She really did love cooking; there was just something about it that made her at ease, not that she needed to be at ease of course, she was curious – not scared. Before she knew it she had served up four bowls that were still steaming with heat as she picked two up and headed towards her front door – nearly dropping them of course as she skilfully opened the door to find Marko on the other side with his hand raised and ready to knock on the door that was now not their.

"Oh my-" she cried out, taking a deep breath as she tried to calm her racing heartbeat "That scared the life out of me"

"You look pretty alive to me" Marko grinned, not even asking before he took both of the bowls from her hand "These are for your neighbours right?"

All she could do was nod as she followed after him as he made his way down the stairs, food and all. Edgar and Alan Frog on the other hand did not look too pleased as Marko placed both of the bowls on the counter in front of them, Alan at least smiled but Danielle saw that it did not reach his eyes – Edgar didn't even try and instead just scowled. All she could do was shake her head internally at his behaviour.

"You again" Edgar mumbled, though the words didn't bother Marko at all – in fact he didn't even bother giving the boy a reply.

"Thanks Danielle" Alan said, smiling truthfully in her direction "You don't have to do this you know, every night and all"

"Well, I don't want to see you both get unhealthy and all, eating pop tarts, ice cream and take out one night after another" she smiled brightly "You both know how much I love cooking anyway"

"Shall we go?" Marko asked, turning and looking to her with a small grin - the same small, crooked grin that she found she quite loved looking at "Wouldn't want yours to get cold and all"

"Yeah" she nodded, waving at Edgar and Alan before heading back to the apartment once more to share a meal with the boy who was growing to be quite a good friend. That's what they were, friends right? She'd never had anyone be more than a friend to her in her entire life after all; she didn't have the time in high school seeing as her priorities were a bit up the wall. Since high school there hadn't been a chance – until now that is. But she was overthinking things; she had to be over thinking things.

"So, what exactly did you cook for me tonight?" Marko asked, he was still wearing his crooked grin and it still had the same effect that it always did "It smelt like chicken"

"Chicken chilli stir fry, and rice" she smiled "I don't really know what you liked, but, everyone likes chicken right?"

"Uh-" Marko said with a pause – in that moment she had never, ever been more mortified – not even when he had caught her staring at him in Ichi-Ban!

"I knew I should have asked you when we organised yesterday" she said quickly, her cheeks heating up as she fought the urge not to cry "I am terribly sorry, I'm going to make something else right now, I stocked up on food the day before yesterday and I'm sure I can come up with something else-" her rambling was suddenly interrupted by Marko's laugh, not the soft one she had grown used to over the past month but a louder, more genuine one that ran through his entire body.

"I couldn't-" Marko said, laughter still in his voice "I couldn't no - I am so sorry, the chicken is fine"

"You-" Danielle began, but she caught herself "You were joking? It's fine?"

"It's fine, I'm so, so sorry" Marko said, but his laughter said otherwise.

Instead of growing angry Danielle found herself smiling as she recalled his laughter once again, she tried to look stern and even a little upset but she found herself miserably failing.

"You know, I expected a bit of anger their but that smile seems to say otherwise"

"I could be angry, if I wanted to" she, though her smile was growing bigger by the second as she recalled how he kept laughing while trying to apologise to her

"I don't think so" Marko insisted, a knowing look in his eye as he took a seat at the small dining table "You don't strike me as the type to become angry in any situation, I don't think I could even imagine it"

Once again Danielle was left utterly speechless, because she felt like he was reading her like a book all over again. She could not remember a time in her life where she had shown it, of course she had felt anger, but express it? No, he was right, it wasn't her at all. She grew upset, and sad, more often than not in situations where she should have felt anger instead.

"You're right" She nodded with a small smile, setting the two bowls on the little dining table and taking a seat across from her guest "I don't - well everyone feels anger of course, but I can't think of a time where I've ever expressed it"

"It's not a bad thing" Marko insisted, taking the first bite of his meal and supressing a small groan of satisfaction as the flavours hit his tongue "Some might say it's a good thing, a better thing even"

"I don't see what I'm missing out on" she laughed, agreeing with his words and thinking back to a couple of weeks ago when both Marko and Paul had been involved in that fight "I mean, I just don't personally understand how anger or violence can solve anything"

"It solves some things" Marko said quietly, moving his free hand to caress where bruises had once marked her pale skin and the gesture as simple as it was sent shivers down her backside, which made her even more confused as to what she felt for the boy sitting in front of her. A single touch had done more to her than anything she could ever remember – she couldn't even find something to compare it too.

Marko. _Marko_. Danielle liked the sound of his name on her tongue that was for sure. Not only did she like his name she liked how he made her laugh and the crooked smile he more often than not covered with the palm of his hand. Not the mention the patched jacket she had not once seen him without since the very first time she had seen him in that little Chinese take-out restaurant. She liked how he could make her blush, even though it embarrassed her more often than not and how he never said anything about it to embarrass her further. Not only did she like those things, but Marko happened to be seriously good looking. He was shorted than the rest of his friends but still taller than she was, his baggy jeans hung from his hips and more often than not she had to tell herself not to stare, because she would be absolutely mortified if she was ever caught. His curly hair was long and Danielle knew it was soft, softer and lovelier even than her own. And his face, she couldn't even begin to describe it or what it was about him that made her stare, maybe his kind eyes or maybe, maybe it was all just the smile after all.

Not only was she unsure about her feelings, she had absolutely no idea what _he_ saw in _her. _She wasn't vain, Danielle knew that some boys had noticed her; she just didn't understand what they had noticed about her in the first place. Her body was average at most though she was more than comfortable being the size twelve that she was, not flat but not curvy either, she sat in the middle of the two. Her dark black hair reached just below her shoulder blades and was plain and uncut – more often than not she wore it up and out of her face. She hated she shape of her mouth more than anything else in the world as it was simply just too big and also the plain, dark brown colour of her eyes that held nothing to some of the blues and greens she had been envious of in high school. She honestly had no idea why Marko wanted to be around her or what he might, but probably didn't see.

As all of these things raced through her mind once again she thought back to how Marko had possibly known about her birthday.

**-0-**

**Marko** took another bite of the meal Danielle had served and couldn't help but miss the thought of home cooked meals; it had been years since he had had something this good, years since he had had something that wasn't take out or well, blood. He also found that yet again he was fighting awfully hard to stay out of Danielle's head and once again he found that he was finding the task incredibly difficult. Hard as he continued to try, he couldn't keep out of her mind, her thoughts were loud and clear and it was as she was speaking them directly to him and not in the comforts of her own mind. It was wrong, completely wrong to listen in _her_ thoughts - he found that he didn't want to know what she thought about him unless she was actually willing to say them for herself - not that he hadn't used the exact same technique against other girls in the past, but she was different, so different from all of the other girls he had met and grown incredibly bored of in a matter of nights. Before he even knew it he was listening in, he couldn't continue to ignore her thoughts forever try hard as he may, and as he listened it grew incredibly hard for him to supress a smile.

_Marko, Marko, I like the sound of his name on my tongue. He makes me laugh, and he does that thing, when he smiles and he tries to cover it with the palm of his hand and not to mention that patched jacket I've never seen him without since the first time we met at Ichi-Ban. He makes me blush, yes of course it's embarrassing, but he at least doesn't say anything to embarrass me further. And he's good looking, just look at him, no don't, eat, he'll catch you and you'll be mortified, again. Shorter than the other three yet still taller than I am, and those jeans, how they hand from his hips, it's so hard not to stare, so incredibly hard though I can't, I definitely would never be able to talk to him or see him ever again if he saw me staring at his hips for crying out loud. _Marko supressed a laugh and the guilt he had been feeling soon disappeared. _I like his hair; I like how it isn't cut short and how it's probably softer and lovelier than my own. And his face, he has quite a nice face. Is it his eyes? His kind eyes? Or maybe just the smile? I should stop listing off the things about his face, damn I hope I'm not blushing again. _

Marko looked up and noticed that she was, but her cheeks were only flushed a little and knowing that her thoughts were currently about _him_ and were the reason behind her stained cheeks had an effect on him that he could not describe. He also couldn't help but grow immensely happy, because she thought about him, her thoughts were full him and it was so, so similar to the way that he thought about her.

_What does he even see in me?_ Marko had to blink a few times and nearly missed what she thought next. _What did any of them see in me? I am comfortable with my size, I'm not flat but I'm not curvy either._ He couldn't help but think back to her birthday when she had answered the door in only those tiny pair of shorts and a t-shirt and how fucking surprised he had been at the sight, though he soon stopped upon realising that he would soon have a small problem of his own if he kept thinking about her and the lack of clothing she had worn that night. Soon his mind wondered to her shapely legs were, how lovely he thought they looked and how her body shape was just right and stopped yet again as the little warning once more flashed through his mind. _Or my hair, it's so plain, cut and colour. And the shape of my mouth, it's just too big, or how my eyes are brown and how I wish they were green or blue. Who knows why he's here, or what he even see's in me, if he see's anything at all that is. _

If he saw anything in her at all? He nearly laughed but stopped himself – years of practise at hand aiding him as he tried to control his expression to not show what he was truly thinking. Yes, she wasn't as flat as a board or completely curvaceous, but she had no idea how appealing her legs were or the how the swing of her hips affected him as she walked. Her lips weren't large, well to him they weren't, he saw nothing wrong with them at all in fact and often thoughts about how nice it would be to kiss them and bite them raced through his imagination. Her hair was black and yes it was plain, but it was also beautiful in a way because she didn't have to do anything to it like so many of the other girls did these days. They also did match her eyes; her beautiful, kind eyes that he would never admit to anyone had drawn a few times. But it wasn't just her looks – of course it helped that he found her irresistibly tempting but that wasn't what caught his attention in the first place.

It was the way Danielle was and how he hoped she would always be. How absolutely kind she was all of the time to everyone around her and all those she met, how defensive she was about something she felt strongly for and how unselfish she was, how completely unselfish she was - so much that it honestly did shock him. Some girls put on an act and they think completely different things compared to the words that they say, but Danielle wasn't like that, she was genuine and true, those were the things he saw and those were the things he had grown to appreciate. Her looks had always been present but they came second when he thought about how much of an amazing person she was.

To Marko's amazement it wasn't only he that noticed those traits about her, Paul had often told him about how it shocked him that someone could be so kind. Not to mention David of course, who picked through her thoughts like he did everyone else at the first chance he could, which was the night they had been introduced to one and other for the first time. David had said she was genuine, he hadn't said it with surprise but it was something Marko had not seen coming, because David never bothered with the people he and Paul made friends with, he never needed to as they were never a lasting problem. He had grown cautious when Danielle had told him that David had been watching her because he knew that David would have wanted to have gone through her thoughts again and who knew, apart from Dwayne maybe, how many times he had done the exact same thing without having being caught. David had not spoken anything about the incident but Marko knew that if she had been a problem, he would have sorted it out by now.

_How had he known?_ Danielle's thoughts once more snapped Marko back into reality as he took another bite of his food which was still steaming, but only a little. _How did he know about my birthday? Not even Edgar and Alan knew, so how did he know? And why did he lie?_

Marko stopped chewing. Her thoughts were like a slap in the face that bought him crashing back to reality and for the first time in an incredibly long time, he had to admit to himself that he had indeed make a serious mistake. They hadn't known, her neighbours hadn't known - he had known because of her thoughts but it wasn't like he could tell her that, he _definitely_ couldn't tell her that. He waited for her to say something, to ask him, but she didn't. Danielle instead looked up and met his eyes for the first time since she had begun thinking about him, which in reality had only been a minute or two, and smiled that smile that he had grown rather fond of

"Is the food okay?" she asked, she was smiling but he didn't need to read her thoughts to know that she wanted to please him, that she honestly did want him to enjoy to food she had cooked

"Amazing" he grinned, though his mind was still wheeling over his mistake "It's been years, and too long since I have had a home cooked meal, I've missed it greatly"

"Ah, you're like the boys then" she laughed with a small shake of her head "Living off take-out and junk food"

_How is he so, fit, living off all that junk?_

"I don't think I'm ever going to be able to go back to it now" he said honestly, sending her a look he just knew would make her blush "You're gonna' have to get used to having me around for dinner" he inwardly smiled as she lit up, though his thoughts once more went back to his mistake.

Not only was he worried, for him, but he was worried for her. If David found out, shit, if David found out there would be consequences. Hiding things from David had always proved to be a difficult task especially because David, just like Marko himself, could read minds. David just knew if there was even a slight thought out of place, but he couldn't let him know, not yet at least. He then thought about what would happen to Danielle if David found out, but he didn't think about it for long as the images that flew past his eyes were enough to make him flinch. He didn't want David to find out, because if he did and happened to think too much about it, something bad might happen and he didn't want Danielle going anywhere anytime soon.

Marko didn't want Danielle disappearing and the thought made him quite aware of the growing feelings he had for the girl sitting in front of him and how much shit he was now going to be in because of it.

**-0-**

**Reviews:** RubyWaters: I think it does so too and the reason why Danielle started drawing the vampire was because of Edgar and Alan, as they are always hounding her about the fact that vampires happen to exist. That makes me incredibly happy! I hope you enjoy the Harry Potter fiction I have going on as well, it's a bit farther along than this one is at the moment haha.


	9. Feeling

**Chasing Ghosts  
Chapter Nine: **Feeling  
**Update:** 15.3.2015**  
Word Count: **2,350 (Words can't describe my displeasure, I do apologise for such a short chapter) **  
Note: **Hey guys, I'm really sorry for the late update (again). I'm having a little bit of trouble writing.**  
Disclaimer:** I do not own the Lost Boys

**-0-**

**Marko** couldn't remember a time where he had been away from his brothers sides more than he had than over the past week of his life, it seemed like the only time he saw them was when he was waking up and even then he didn't linger long, always out the door and making his way from the old, abandoned hotel and towards Danielle's apartment before the rest of the others could think another thought. After a couple of days he slowly began to hate himself a little more for being so cowardly and running so quickly at the thought of David finding out about the slip, the slip that could be the end of his growing friendship with the girl he had been spending so much time with. Running was the only thing he could think of that would stop David from finding out and seeing as he was nowhere near being able to outsmart him by sticking around – running it was. No one could fool David.

Every single night since the slip had occurred Marko had spent his nights with Danielle in her little, yet cosy apartment. She cooked something different every night and he smiled at the thought while appreciating how much effort she truly was putting in for him. Some nights they simply sat and talked after their meals were finished and the dishes were washed until she was practically falling asleep where she was seated and other nights they both had their sketch pads out and were in their own worlds drawing away. As much as he knew he was spending all this time with her was because of his fear of facing David, half of him also knew if he would still be there anyway even if the entire thing had never happened in the first place. His feelings were becoming clearer as each night flew by and as much as he was happy about that he was also extremely worried.

Marko had had girlfriends before, he'd had _many_ girlfriends in the past actually but they never, ever lasted long. How could they? He wasn't normal, he wasn't human, he was dark and dangerous and that wasn't something he thought about when he looked for the girls that he usually spent most of his time with. He got what he needed from them and then that was it, he wasted no time on them, no more than what was needed and that was that. Simple, easy and effective – each participating party got what they wanted and needed. Danielle was different, he wasn't looking for anything when she quite literally stumbled into his life and therefore she took him by a complete surprise and caught him utterly off guard, he wasn't prepared for _feelings_, he wasn't prepared for all that she bought along with her at all. Now all he could practically think about was how dangerous he was, how dark he was and how inhuman he was compared to her.

And that was what Marko thought of as he sat on the sandy beach of Santa Carla, the bright lights of the Boardwalk fast asleep along with Danielle who had retired just over an hour ago. He thought of his growing feelings and how he knew that she felt the same, how confused and upset he was about keeping secrets from his family and how he just knew that it would only be a matter of time before everyone found out. He was torn, to be the one to come out and say something first or try and hide what he knew for as long as he could, to keep the happiness that he had found and for that to be safe for as long as possible. The thing that hurt Marko most though was keeping his secret from Paul, because he and Paul never kept things from one another, but Marko wasn't about to pull Paul into his mess - if he was going down with David he was most definitely going down alone.

Could he give Danielle up? That was what he had been asking himself for the past two nights and the answer was simple. He _could_ give her up, but he didn't want too, he really didn't want too. It was rare to find someone - anyone that was as genuine as she was not only with her kindness but her whole manner in general. It was also one of the first times Marko had found someone that had a passion for art that could match his own, the surprise when he found that out was something he couldn't hide, much to Paul's amusement of course. She is strong, stronger than any other girl he had ever met before and completely humble which is something he had come to admire. And along with all those traits, she was also gorgeous, a natural beauty which shone brighter than the boardwalk at its utmost peak.

"Deep thought, it doesn't suit you Marko"

The worlds startled him, along with that they also shocked and scared him. Dwayne wasn't one for words and that was putting it lightly but he was one for listening which was why Marko had considered talking to Dwayne a number of times this week, but he hadn't, at least not until now.

"Nah, you're right" Marko mumbled, scrunching his brows as he looked out to the waves stretched out in front of him "It's more your thing"

"Mm" Dwayne nodded, taking a seat beside the blonde, his dark arms resting atop his knees as he too looked out to the waves "Haven't been around much this week"

"I've been busy"

"Busy" the darker boy nodded, he had a knowing look in his eye that had nothing to do with the fact that he could indeed read his friends thoughts "With Danielle?"

"Yeah" Marko grinned, thinking back to the girl that had captivated his mind for the past month "Busy with Danielle"

"You seem pretty taken with her"

"I know"

"That could be a problem"

"I know" Marko sighed, closing his eyes once more "It's uh, a two way streak isn't it? Being like this, has many upsides, but sometimes like now you know, it has it has some downs too"

"Yeah" Dwayne nodded, taking in the blonde slowly for the first time since joining him on the sand "David won't care about the slip Marko, it's nothing that can't be worked out. Worse things have happened to us" Marko felt like telling Dwayne to keep out of his head, but it would be pointless, if David was the best and the strongest of the four then Dwayne was a very close second, he read thoughts more than he spoke.

"I don't-" Marko paused "I don't want to lose this one; I don't want to lose her. I don't even - I'm not even that close with her yet, but I don't want to lose that chance"

"I know. Tell David, Marko. It'll be better you telling him compared to him finding out by force"

"That's' true"

"I'm surprised you kept it from Paul for so long"

"Me too"

"What are you going to do after we move past this?"

"What do you mean?" Marko asked, turning to eye his friend sitting beside him

"Marko, you know what I'm talking about, don't pretend to be obtuse. You either tell her about you, about us in time or she-" Dwayne paused, meeting Marko's gaze and leaving the rest of his words unsaid "You don't want that to happen, so figure it out. Do you want her around? Do you want her to know about you, about us, about everything we are? It isn't a decision you should be taking lightly either" and with that he stood, brushing the sand from his jeans and heading back towards the Boardwalk where his bike was no doubt parked.

Marko thought about Dwayne's words for a long time after he had left, so long that he had nearly forgotten about the upcoming sunrise that would surely be his doom if he didn't get a move on. Had he thought about it? He had. But as Dwayne said it wasn't a decision that he was going to take lightly at all and even if he did decide that he wanted her, if he _really_ and truly wanted her, he was going to have to ease her into it. With those thoughts in mind Marko made his way back to the place that he called home, not only to think about his upcoming decision but thinking about what he could possibly begin to say to David about the slip he had made and what the consequences of his actions over the past week would be.

To say he was nervous was an understatement.

**-0-**

**Danielle** had had one of the best weeks in her entire life and she found that quite funny seeing as she didn't do anything spectacular, not really anyway. Staying inside of her apartment like usual wasn't anything that different than what she usually did, but Marko showing up on her doorstep every single night was. She enjoyed his company, his hidden smiles, his humour and the fact that they could just sit in silence while drawing away and be completely at ease with one another. It had been a long time since she had had someone her own age to talk to, to confide in and even more of a long time since she had felt something like this - well she had never really felt like this. She found that she grew excited as her shifts came to an end and even more so when she rushed home and upstairs to her apartment to start the preparing and cooking for her latest meal, even Edgar and Alan had taken a notice to her constant happy mood, though they weren't exactly happy as to why she was always so joyous.

As she opened the door to her apartment and quickly changed into some old sweats and a singlet Danielle set to work on what she would be serving tonight, simple omelettes, though simple they were they were still delicious. Edgar and Alan's servings only took twenty minutes to prepare and soon she was on her way down to the comic book shop, two plates in hand and her smile still stretched across her face.

"Surely your face hurts by now" Edgar grumbled, taking his plate from Danielle and nodding his head as a gesture of thanks as she arrived at the counter

"Nope" she said brightly "I hope you enjoy, nothing to fancy but you can't really go wrong with eggs"

"Thanks" Alan said lightly, though he didn't meet Danielle's eyes

"You alright?" she asked, taking in Alan with perceptive eyes, watching as he ate his omelette slowly

"He's fine" Edgar snapped rudely, glaring at the girl standing across from him "Now if you don't mind, we have work to do. I'll leave the plates outside of your door"

"Okay"

It was the only thing she could think to say before she turned and walked away. The surprise and hurt was evident in her voice and on her face as she made the short journey home, her head full of confusion over the conversation that had just occurred. It was times like this she really wished she could read minds; it would be so much easier communicating with Edgar if she could and maybe, just maybe she could then finally understand why some days he seemed to like her but on other days he seemed to absolutely loathe her. Truth be told she was growing tired of his behaviour, but she would never dare admit that out loud.

At six fifteen she began to prepare another two omelettes, one for her and one for Marko as he usually always arrived at six thirty on the dot, ever so punctual, the thought made her smile lightly to herself. When the clock struck seven both omelettes had grown cold and Danielle re-cooked another for herself, she would just make another for Marko when he arrived. Nine o'clock saw Danielle sitting on her sofa re-reading a book she couldn't stay focused on, her eyes often wondering over towards her front door.

Waking the next morning she immediately felt the soreness in her back and the stiffness in her neck having fallen asleep on the couch the night before, her position had been quite uncomfortable and she was not keen on repeating that anytime soon. She took a quick shower and dressed in her work clothes, her mind wondering to where Marko could have been the night before though after a while she scolded herself rather harshly. It wasn't as if he told her he was going to be there and that he was definitely going to be coming over for dinner, she had just assumed and over thought the situation. Disappointment swelled through her slightly before she roughly swallowed it and pushed the feeling aside, as far as she was concerned she had no right to be disappointed in the first place anyway - he didn't make any promises and even if he had have she was sure he would have a reasonable excuse.

Not only was the past week one of the best she had had in years, it also flew by within the blink of an eye. She couldn't say that as the following passed by incredibly slowly. Her days began to grow long and tiring and her nights sluggishly, she couldn't focus on a single page of a book for more than five minutes whether that was in her sketch book or one of her beloved novels. She would be lying if she said she wasn't waiting for Marko to show up on her doorstep with one of his smiles and asking what she would be cooking that night - but he never did and she refused to grow sad or disappointment over that fact.

She would not lie though, if someone asked her if she missed him - she would say yes.

**-0-**


	10. Hiding

**Chasing Ghosts  
Chapter Ten:** Hiding  
**Updated: **15.3.2015  
**Word Count: **2,763  
**Note: **I know it has been months and I truly am sorry, I had a little bit of a block and also a few personal issued I had to deal with that have taken mostly all of my time. I do know where I want this story to go; I'm just having a little bit of trouble getting there. This chapter will not only be in the point of view of Danielle, but Alan and Marko as well. I know the chapter is shorter than what it should be, but I can't seem to write any long ones at the moment.  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Lost Boys.

**-0-**

**Danielle Jones** had not seen Marko in two weeks, two incredibly long and boring weeks.

As much as she kept trying to tell herself that it was simply nothing and that he was just busy, the more she seemed to tell herself she didn't truly believe it. Not only did she have a very bad feeling about the situation but she also realised quite quickly that she did indeed miss the blonde's company quite terribly, something that she could not deny no matter how hard she tried.

Danielle found with the Marko situation she had definitely grown too attached way too quickly, something that she could no longer really help. Well, _she_ thought it was too quickly, then again some of the girls she had known at her old high school were dating boys after only knowing them for a week or so though those relationships never lasted longer than a month or two in some occasions. She thought of him constantly and being the over thinker that she was 90% of the time, she just knew that she must have done something wrong or something was definitely wrong with him.

Often she thought about venturing out onto the Boardwalk and twice in the past two weeks she had done exactly that, but she had seen no sight of Marko or any of his friends when she did, not even Paul who she seemed to run into every time she had been out in the past. Not only did she worry about Marko, but she worried about the other three boys as well, the feeling of dread in her stomach made her feel like something terrible had happened to all four, that maybe, just maybe all four had been added onto the never ending list of missing people posters that were hung around the Boardwalk. Her thoughts worried her so she often tried to distract herself, with not only books but comics from the shop next door and her sketches and drawings too. The trouble was her mind was growing bored all too quickly, her books lost her interest faster than ever before and the Wonder Woman comics and her drawings were neither a help either.

On the night of the fourteenth day since she had seen Marko, Danielle was working on fish and chips up in her apartment for herself and for the two Frog brothers. Edgar's mood and attitude had not changed a single bit and Alan on the other hand was still rather quiet though improvement had been seen. The fish on the other hand smelt absolutely amazing and she knew it was one of the two brother's favourite meals and was hoping that tonight she could try and find out exactly what the problem was and what she might possibly be able to do to fix it.

Edgar and Alan were sitting behind the counter in the Comic shop with their heads buried in separate volumes of comics when Danielle arrived with two plates full of still steaming hot food, Alan thanked her with a large grin but Edgar only nodded

"I'm just going to go back up and get my plate, I'll be back down in a minute" she smiled

"Told you" Edgar muttered, it was faint, but Danielle still heard it nonetheless. Instead of asking what he meant, she turned her back and went to retrieve her food with a terrible feeling in her stomach, one she was all too familiar with which was screaming that she had once again done something wrong.

Danielle picked at her plate; she had not eaten a bite since the night before which was not all that surprising considering what she was currently feeling. Her moods have always affected how much she ate and it always had, either feeling joyed or saddened.

"You look sick" Edgar stated, eyeing the girl up and down as she took the only empty seat "All pale and what not"

"Maybe I'm coming down with something" she muttered, grimacing as she tried to swallow a bite out of her fish which had now become lukewarm

"I don't want to catch anything" Edgar said harshly, his words cutting the girl like a knife to bread

"Edgar, don't be such an asshole" Alan growled "She obviously doesn't feel well"

"So? I don't want to get sick"

"I'm going to go to bed" Danielle said as she stood from her seat, feeling more awful about herself than she had in a very, very long time "I will come down and get the dishes tomorrow"

Alan Frog shook his head at his brother and collected the two plates that had been left behind, following after Danielle as she made her way back to the apartment building next door. She said not a word and after a few moments he highly doubted she knew he was walking after her at all

"I said I would have gotten them tomorrow"

He guessed wrong, she had known.

"I really don't mind bringing them up now"

"I don't know what I've done this time, so do you want to tell me?" she asked, Alan only had to take one look at her before he himself too felt absolutely miserable "Because I don't know what I've done, and it makes me feel sad because I really am fond of you and your brother plus the company you give me. Edgar hates me again and you have been really quiet too, which is so strange considering how much you used to talk to me"

"You haven't done anything-" Alan began "We just want you to have your own friends you know, you always hang around us, cook for us and put yourself out for us and it isn't really fair. We have parents that should be doing that for us and it makes us feel guilty as hell. Not only that but you need like, people your own age and I guess since you now have people your own age and it's just been like, I don't know, I'm probably making no sense"

"So, because I have Marko and Paul as friends too I can't have you or your brother?" she asked, her facial features crumbling a little "That isn't fair"

"No, that isn't it – I mean, everything was fine and then you know you started hanging around with whatshisname all the time and it kinda' showed us you have other friends and that, yeah and that it wasn't only us" Alan mumbled

"I replaced you both-"

"No – no! That wasn't what I was trying to say, don't, it isn't like that. You need to hang around people your own age – I don't, actually I'm going to stop"

"It doesn't matter anyway Alan, Marko probably hates me anyway" Danielle sighed "Just, don't distance yourself from me, I just, I can't do that at the moment, it's too hard"

"What do you mean he hates you?" the younger boy asked

"He hasn't been around to see me in two weeks, I mean, he was here every single night for a week straight and then nothing. I know it's something I have done, I just know it"

"Danielle, not everything is your fault you know, like, you know that right?"

"It seems like it though-"

"Well, it isn't" Alan stated, a hard look in his eyes as he did "Stop blaming yourself for everything, no wonder you seem so pale – and you barely ate anything on your plate either. You need to eat, and you need to sleep"

"Looks like you're the one taking care of me now huh?" she asked, her lips curving into a small smile for the first time in days "Go back down to Edgar, don't want to give him an even more reason to hate me"

"He doesn't hate you-"

"I know" she shook her head "it just, sometimes it feels like he does you know?"

"I know, try living with him" Alan grumbled

"No thanks"

**-0-**

"She thinks you hate her"

"I do hate her"

"No, you don't" Alan sighed

"She thinks she can just take care of us, cook for us and-"

"I thought you got over this problem weeks ago Edgar?"

"I did-"

"Then what the hell is your problem Edgar? Jesus, she feels like shit enough already coz' that blonde guy is now ignoring her and now we're both being dicks to her too. No wonder she looks so pale and depressed all the time"

**Alan** Frog loves his brother more than any other person in the world and even though they had been side by side since day one his mood swings still managed to confuse the hell out of him on the best of days.

"She just pisses me off alright" Edgar snapped "Just leave it Alan"

"Stop making her feel like shit man, she doesn't need anything more on her plate-"

"Like what?" Edgar scoffed "A nice apartment, work, money – it's not like she struggles for anything Alan so stop pitying her like she's a lost puppy or something"

"You don't know everything about her man, maybe she does have more shit to deal with" Alan glared

"Boo-hoo" The other brother snapped once again "I do not pity her anymore, she isn't worth it"

"Why won't you tell me what the problem is? Seriously Edgar you act like you are still five years old"

"Fine, fine, you wanna' know what pisses me off about the girl? Is that you obviously have some massive, teenage boy fantasy about running off with her and marrying her some day and she completely sees right through it. You know what else, she spent all this time with us for days and days and day after day and then she finds someone better and that's it. It's a shitty thing to do Alan"

"You don't know what you're talking about" Alan lied, refusing to comment more on the matter about his unspoken feelings "So she can't have her own friends, is that what you're trying to say? Jesus, you seem like the one who has these teenage boy fantasies about her talking like you just did, not me"

"That isn't it-"

"Then what is it? She still makes sure we're fed when our own parents can't even give a shit, makes sure we're at school when we're supposed to be, Jesus Edgar last week she offered to make us lunch. She's like the big sister we've never had and now she has friends of her own, that she went out and made herself you're back to treating her like shit? You should start thinking about that man, because that's not the guy I know, that isn't my brother"

Alan stormed out of the comic shop after that, angry and upset with the one person who he had to count on as it wasn't like his parents were just going to one day wake up and realised they cared. Maybe it was harsh and maybe his words had been a little too cruel but in that moment he really just could not bring himself care and it wasn't like Edgar had ever held back when he needed to let out his frustrations. The problem was, Alan knew he had made Danielle feel like shit, and for that he felt truly terrible. Had he been different around her? He knew he had been. He wasn't used to her being with anyone but himself or his brother, the change was sudden and weird that he didn't really know how to breech the subject.

Time suddenly seemed to stop as Alan noticed bright blonde hair out of the corner of his eye which distracted his thoughts about his brother and Danielle completely. There standing across the street was Marko, in plain sight for everyone to see and the image not only made Edgar confused as he recalled what Danielle had told him not even ten minutes before but it also made him even angrier than he already was – which was strange because it's usually always Edgar who's the angry one. From what he was told Marko hadn't been around in weeks and now he was just standing there, across the road staring up at the apartment he knew where Danielle was.

**-0-**

**Marko** could not see inside of her window and could only imagine what Danielle Jones could possibly be doing – though he already had a faint idea. Closing his eyes he thought back to all of the times he had watched her read one of her thick books that looked like they were falling apart at the seams, to the nights she had sat up until she could barely keep her eyes open trying to finish the last details of the latest drawing she had conjured up and the many, many nights she had cooked amazing dinner that had left him more satisfied than he had been in years. He smiled as he relived the memories behind closed lids but soon frowned as he tried to think of a possible explanation that could use to explain his absence for the past two weeks.

When he had eyed her all those weeks ago in Ichi-Ban he had absolutely no idea how important she would grow to be and truth be told it still shocked him quite a little. Danielle has done what no other has done before and after a long two weeks of deep thought and hiding in the shadows across the street he now knew what he must do, but getting there is a completely different story

"Where I am even going to start" he muttered to himself "Wish Dwayne had a book about how to deal with this"

"Hey! You -"

Marko opened his eyes to find one of Danielle's neighbours standing not two feet away from where he stood and he didn't have to read his mind to know that he was ten kinds of pissed off

"What?" he asked, his frustration seeping into his tone "Make it quick kid, I don't have time-"

"What the hell do you think you're doing huh?" he demanded, taking a little step closer "Where the hell have you been?"

"I don't think that's any of your damn business" Marko snapped "Who the hell do you think you are anyway and last but not lease why fuck would you care?"

"I could not care less about you, or any of your friends. I've seen you around, with your friends running amok and causing havoc on the Boardwalk for years now and the last thing I want is Danielle getting mixed up with that-" the boy began and Marko fought the urge to growl at his words "-but for some, strange reason she likes you and you haven't been around and now she blames herself for you disappearing out of her life all of a sudden"

"What the hell are you talking about?" he asked, eyes narrowing slightly as he turned to face the boy he guessed was Alan face on

"You've been gone two weeks without a work, you know her well enough by now - or so I would like to think, she blames herself and thinks she's done something wrong to scare you away"

"Well she's wrong-"

"And now you are here, standing out in the street like the past two weeks haven't gone by at all. I might be younger than you and you're right, I don't know shit about anything, but I swear if you lead her on like you have all the other girls I've seen you with before I will not stop until I seriously harm you" Edgar murmured "She deserves so much more than that"

"She does" Marko muttered "She deserves more"

"You can't just get up and walk away without thinking about who you're hurting in the meantime, you have no idea how bad it's been watching her grow pale and thin because she won't sleep or eat"

The thought of her being any less than what she was made Marko feel sick and the fact that he was the one at fault made him feel three times as worse. _Turning_ hadn't felt this bad and turning was pretty fucking bad.

"I didn't know what to say" Marko muttered, making eye contact with the kid once more – he didn't look as pissed of as he had been, but he was still pretty mad and for all the right reasons too.

"Figure it out" Edgar demanded and with that he turned around and walked back towards the comic book shop, leaving Marko with a swirl of dark thoughts.


	11. Trying

**Chasing Ghosts  
Chapter Eleven: **Trying  
**Word Count: **4,450  
**Note:** Once again I apologise for such a long wait. Throughout the past three days I have updated every chapter of Chasing Ghosts to try and find some inspiration for this chapter. So here I am.

**-0-**

It is currently day fifteen since Danielle had last seen Marko. Work of course was going by incredibly slowly and once again she was left alone with her thoughts more often than not. Mr. and Mrs. Heart were enough to put a small smile on her face every now and again of course but that didn't take her mind off of the boy that she was now positive was haunting her mind. Whenever she wasn't thinking of Marko she was then thinking of Edgar and Alan and the conversation that she had had with Alan last night. Every single word had been true, especially the part about her not being able to cope if they were to distance themselves from her any more than they already were.

She still had absolutely no idea what she had done – well not to Edgar anyway but that was something she tried hard to forget throughout the rest of her day.

Considering how badly things had turned out over dinner the night before she was completely floored when she looked up to see Edgar waiting outside of the comic book shop when she was walking home after her shift, his hands were buried inside of his pants pockets and he looked completely and utterly lost. Looking up as she approached he took a step forward and held out his hands in defence

"Alright so I've been acting like a prick, I get that, so I'm sorry"

He spoke so fast that she barely had a chance to process it all at once.

"You – what?" she asked in confusion, still finding it hard that Edgar Frog of all people was currently trying to apologise to her

"You heard me" he muttered – that was more like it "I've been treating you like shit and thanks to my brother I've now come to realize my mistake. I'm going to try harder – to not let it happen again alright?"

"Okay"

"That's it?" he asked, dumbfounded as how easily his terrible apology was accepted "Nothing? No anger, no spitefulness?"

"You apologised right?" she asked, a smile spreading across her face for the first time in a long time "That's what counts"

"You're so-" he began, but stopped himself before he could finish his sentence

"Your self-control is through the roof today!" Danielle grinned, taking enjoyment out of the face he then pulled "Good work, keep it up kid. How was school?"

"Same shit, different day"

"You know, one day I'll ask you how school was and you'll reply with something different"

"Maybe one day, but that day is not today"

"I need to get out of this uniform" she muttered to herself, eyeing the coffee stain on the edge of her dress and awaited Edgar's sarcastic response – but it never came "You really are trying aren't you little frog?"

"You know, one of these days-" but he stopped himself once more, breathing in deeply before exhaling slowly "I'm going to go find Alan"

With that he was gone and Danielle was left alone and very, very happy at that. She found it so funny how her mood had done a complete one-eighty in only a matter of minutes and it was all because Edgar Frog had apologised to her – Edgar Frog apologised to no one. Still, she had no idea what she had supposedly done, but that didn't really matter anymore.

Dinner was the last thing on her mind as she made her way up the flights of stairs and into her apartment, ignoring the growling in her stomach as she stripped off and turned on the hot tap to her shower. Stepping inside she exhaled and closed her eyes, basking in the blissful feeling that her shower was currently giving her as it slowly washed away most of the worries she still held onto.

Fifteen days, fifteen days had passed since she had last seen him and she had no idea why that was such a big deal in the first place. They were not seeing one another, they were not exclusive, he was not her boyfriend and she had no real reason to miss him. But she did, she missed his company, his laugh and his crooked smile. Danielle Jones soon found that having feelings for someone absolutely sucked and couldn't help but wonder how on Earth everyone went around dealing with them on a daily basis like it was nothing. Feelings were hard, they were difficult and they were complicated and she found that she did not like them one bit.

After washing her hair delicately and scrubbing her body with soap she begrudgingly turned off the taps and stepped out of the shower, wrapping herself in a fluffy white towel as she tried to find a clean bra and preferably a matching pair of underwear. She might not be very girly but matching underwear had always been a necessity for Danielle Jones.

While she was looking through her set of drawers someone knocked on her front door, looking down at the towel she was still wrapped in she couldn't help but frown at the poor timing

"Give me a moment!" she called out

"Please tell me you're naked"

Her eyes widened as she recognized the voice instantly – it belonged to Paul.

"I seriously wouldn't mind – like, at all"

Danielle threw on a black singlet and a pair of old, high waisted jeans quickly before making her way towards her door and opening it to reveal Paul – a disappointed looking Paul

"Well, that's a shame" he sighed

"Mm, a shame" she said while rolling her eyes "How do you know where I live?"

"Marko"

She felt a pang in her stomach as she heard his name.

"Oh, that makes sense"

"So – you going to invite me in or are we going to have this conversation in your doorstep?" he asked, leaning against her doorframe with a cheeky smile "I don't mind, but it is a little weird"

"Come in" she insisted, stepping to the side so that she could close the door behind him "What brings you here anyway? It's been a while"

"It has, we've just been dealing with some shit at home you know, sorting out some things and what not" he shrugged, taking in her apartment piece by piece "Nice place"

"Thanks Paul"

"How have you been?" he asked, having finished eyeing off the room he slumped himself onto her couch "You seem a little pale"

"I've been fine, trying to keep busy you know" she smiled "You're not the first person to tell me that though, maybe I came down with something"

"Hmm"

She'd never really been alone with Paul before and now here he was, sitting inside of her apartment and lounging around like he owned the place. She didn't mind at all – it was Paul, that's how he was but she couldn't help but wonder why he was even here in the first place. Looking outside she noticed the dark clouds that had formed in the sky and wondered how long it would be before it would start to rain.

"Anyway, moving on – I did actually come here for a reason"

"You did?" she asked from the kitchen, searching for something to throw together in her cupboards "Can I help you with anything?"

"Yeah, you can go and see Marko for me"

The two eggs she had been holding in her hand suddenly dropped involuntarily and smashed onto the floor before her, she turned to look at Marko who to her surprise was already staring at her

"That's an - well, it's a bit of an odd request"

"Is it?" he asked "You guys spent a ton of time together before – well, before that shit at home went down so I didn't think it'd be all that odd"

Paul was being sincere but that didn't take away the shock she was still feeling – why on Earth did he want her to go and see Marko? Did Marko even want to see her? Because as much as she wanted to believe him when he had said they had had stuff going on at home she still couldn't shake the feeling that she had been the one to do something wrong.

"Marko always came here" she said quietly, turning around the clean up the mess that now decorated her kitchen floor "I wouldn't know where on Earth to find him"

"He's sitting in Ichi-Ban trying to work up the courage to come and see you"

This time she dropped the brush and dustpan she had been holding which caused Paul to snort in amusement

"Danielle, Danielle – what am I going to do with you"

"I barely know what to do with myself"

"So – you gonna' go see him?"

"Well – if he doesn't want to see me-"

"Of course he wants to see you" he scoffed "You should have tried living with him over these past two weeks, he's been depressed as hell having not seen you"

"I find that incredibly hard to believe" she said honestly, finally having cleaned up the broken egg along with its shell

"You're so dense"

"Maybe-"

"Okay look, he has no idea I'm her alright – but I thought maybe I could help him out you know?" Paul admitted, leaning back into the couch so that he was now staring at the ceiling "So go see him, because nothing I do can cheer him up"

"I look like-" she paused, looking down to what she was currently wearing and eyeing the ends of he still wet hair

"It won't matter what you look like – which is fine by the way" he added with a wink "Marko won't care, you could show up in a trashcan and he still wouldn't care"

She wanted to believe his words, but she couldn't.

"I'll go" she said "Just let me get some shoes on"

"Grab a jacket, it's going to rain"

"Okay, I will-" but she couldn't finish, Paul had already gotten up and closed her door behind him as he left.

She didn't think twice before grabbing a baggy dark grey cardigan and slipping into her favourite pair of boots to head outside – Paul was right, it was certainly going to rain soon. Her thoughts were going one hundred miles per minute, after fifteen days she was finally – hopefully going to see him. That was, if she didn't chicken out beforehand and ran back home instead. Not to mention the fact that she still hadn't been back to Ichi-Ban since Bo and James had sent a brick flying through their window, a promise she had indeed broken to herself.

Even though Ichi-Ban was barely a five minute walk it took Danielle ten before the small Chinese takeout came into view, the butterflies in her stomach fluttering madly at what she was about to do. It had even started to rain which did not make her walk any faster than what she had – therefore resulting in her still wet form. When the approached the door she opened it slowly paused before walking into the quiet place – smiling at Minami who stood behind the counter and thankfully greeted her with a megawatt smile that spoke volumes.

Even though his back was towards her, she knew it was Marko sitting in the very corner booth of the restaurant. As she approached his table she couldn't help but regret wearing a cardigan instead of one of her hooded jackets as she was sure she looked like a soaked mess – but that soon faded too as she was now extremely close to the boy she had been thinking about constantly over the past two weeks.

**-0-**

The last person Marko had ever expected to sit at his table was Danielle bloody Jones. Certainly, she was the one he wanted to see the most but the one he had been expecting? No, definitely not. Movement caught his eye and before he could glance up there she was, sitting across from him and wearing that smile that he had grown quite fond of. Raindrops covered her face and her hair was soaking wet but that took nothing away from her beauty. Blinking, he couldn't help but curse himself for turning into such a mess at the sight of the girl. When was the last time he had _ever_ used the word 'beauty' to describe a girl? Never, not ever.

"You're literally the last person I expected to see sitting across from me" he admitted with a shake of his head, but that didn't stop his smile and he unconsciously covered it his hand "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Well, a little birdy told me where to find you" she admitted

Paul. Fucking Paul.

"I'll kill him one of these days" he sighed

"If you want to be alone, I understand-"

"No" he said quickly, meeting her eyes once more "No, no don't leave"

"Alright then" she smiled "So – how have you been?"

The question was so complicated that all he could do was shake his head and simply look at the girl sitting across from him

"A lot better now that you're here" He couldn't lie; he'd missed the way he could make her cheeks light up like that.

"You vanished off the face of the Earth for a while" she began "As much as what you just said makes me unbelievably happy, I don't know – I thought I had done something wrong"

Her words sent shocks throughout his body and not in the good way either. Guilt flooded through him and for the first time since she sat down he took her in, really took her in. Bags were now visible from beneath both of her dark eyes and as he looked over her skin he couldn't help but see that she had grown noticeably thinner in the short span of two weeks.

"You did absolutely nothing wrong" he said sternly, leaning forward in his seat so that his hands now rest on the table between them "Absolutely nothing, there was a lot of family shit going on at home – that's all"

"Okay" she nodded.

Funny enough, after two weeks of separation he found it easier to block her thoughts. Who would have known?

"So, you going to let me buy you dinner?" he asked and smirked at her facial expression

"What?" she clarified

"Are you" he began, leaning forward once more "Going to let me, buy you dinner?"

"Um" she began, her cheeks growing redder by the second "If you really want to"

"I do"

All Danielle could do was nod.

Leaning back in his seat he took her in once more.

"I haven't been back here since that night you know" she admitted and his eyes narrowed in confusion. What night? "I was here practically three times a week, and then that stuff went down"

He only had to think for a moment before it all clicked together; this is where it had all happened with those assholes that had been assaulting her. If only he knew where to find them now.

"We can go somewhere else-"

"I love it here, I really do" she interrupted, shaking her head slightly with a smile on her face "I just haven't been back because I felt so bad. That night, they threw a brick through one of the windows-" Marko barely contained his growl as the image filled his head "-and I felt horrible because I didn't have the money to replace it"

"That's why?" he asked in shock "That's why you haven't been back here? Because of the broken window? You are seriously full of surprises"

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No" he shook his head "It isn't, but nonetheless we can leave"

"No, as I said, I love it here" she grinned, leaning back into her own seat "And they always do good food"

"You know, you said you were practically in here three times a week – it's funny how I never saw you before that night"

"What – the one where Paul knocked me over and nearly made me spill the food everywhere?" she asked

"That'd be the one" he grinned before he suddenly remembered another crucial detail about that night "Otherwise known as the night I caught you staring at me"

"I was not" she replied stubbornly and he couldn't help but laugh at her frustration and embarrassment "I was staring at your jacket"

"Ah, were you now?"

"Yes" she insisted

"Sure it was just the jacket that caught your interest?"

He couldn't help himself – it was just so fun riling her up. The fact that he had the power to turn her cheeks that shade of red just made it all worthwhile.

"Positive" she nodded stiffly "And if I remember correctly, you were also staring at me"

"That I was" he admitted, not embarrassed at the slightest to admitting it "You ready to order?"

She accompanied him to the counter and barely held back his laughter as he listened to her order – he didn't judge her of course, that would be rude. But who on Earth ate with a fork when they were at a Chinese restaurant? She was just full of surprises.

As they sat back down Marko once again leaned forward in his seat, her hair was now partially dry and he couldn't help but stare at the faint waves.

"I've wanted to ask you for a while actually – did you make the jacket yourself or did you buy it?" she asked, eyeing the jacket once more.

"I've made it myself – well, I didn't make the patches. I bought them all, some from here some form there" he shrugged "It came together pretty nicely in the end"

"Yeah, I never see you without it" she smiled

She was right, he never left home without it – it was his staple, much like Paul's tight pants were his, Dwayne's bare chest was his and David's long black trench coat was his.

"Funny enough there really is no particular reason behind it" he shrugged, eyeing the patches that decorate his left sleeve "Can't say the same for Paul's tight pants though"

She laughed at his words "Please tell me they're at least not the same pair?"

"I can't promise anything"

"That worries me far, far more than it should"

A moment later their food was placed on the table and Marko eyed her as she picked up her fork and began to dig in, still finding it hard to believe that she was about to eat Chinese in a Chinese take-out with a fork.

"Okay so I was never taught how to use chopsticks" she blurted out, having caught him staring at her white plastic fork

"It's so easy tho!" he insisted, giving her his own unused pair of chopsticks "Now take them – Danielle, just take them – okay now hold them like this"

Marko took her hand gently and positioned the chopsticks correctly and once he was done he lingered for a moment before sitting back into his own seat to watch her progress

"You good?" he asked

"Could you at least not watch me as I fail?" she mumbled quietly, playing around with the chopsticks in her hand to get a better feel of them

"Alright, I'll go grab some more – I promise I won't look"

When he sat back down, a new pair of chopsticks in hand she was attempting to eat some of her rice and he couldn't help but chuckle at the sight

"Marko – are you laughing at me?"

"No"

She scoffed before taking another mouthful of her food and as they ate and talked she grew more confident, by the end of their meal she had nearly got the hang of it.

"See?" he said "All you needed was a little practise"

"And someone to show me how to use them" she added

"Wanna' take a walk?" he asked – hoping that she'd say yes and couldn't help but grin as she nodded "Alright, let's go"

He held the door open for her as they left and then set off by her side towards the busier part of the Boardwalk, the rain had died down now but even though it was night time he could tell that the clouds were still dark with promise of more rain.

"So" he began "Do you like the rain?"

"I love the rain, storms are also my favourite – pretty much everything about the cold come to think about it" she grinned, looking up to the sky above as she spoke "What about you?"

"Couldn't have said it better than myself"

"You should have seen it this morning; it was a beautiful sight to wake up too"

He hadn't thought about morning in such a long time that the longing had simply disappeared. For years he didn't miss a single thing, not one – a small price to pay when you have eternal life and eternal youth right? Wrong. After a while he began to miss sunlight even though he had always despised summer and the feel of the warmth on his skin. That was another thing he missed, waking up in the morning in his bed and looking out of the window to see what the skies would hold for him today.

"I'm sure it was" he said lowly, looking around into the crowds of people "I slept through most of the day; I pretty much woke up fifteen minutes before you walked in to Ichi-Ban"

"I don't think I have ever slept that late in my entire life" she laughed, her eyes glancing towards where the Carousel sat

"C'mon" he said, nodding in the direction of the Carousel

"Only if you want too-"

"C'mon" he laughed

Unlike Paul, Marko didn't push to the front of the line and instead leant against the guardrail and watched Danielle as she took in the ride before them. It only took a couple of minutes before he was stepping up onto the ride, turning he held her hand as she too stepped up to join him – he didn't release his hold until he had found the same horse she had ridden last time and just as Paul had done he helped her up by lifter her at the waist.

At least she didn't squeak this time.

Slowly, he leant against the horse and steadied himself as the ride began to pick up the pace.

"You drew this horse"

"I did" he admitted "You should see my big one"

"I'd love too"

Her words caught him off guard and as he turned to look at her face he found that she was already staring at him.

"Not tonight" he said quietly, glancing down to her bare legs "It'd be too late, and I didn't bring my bike with me"

"You have a bike?" she asked

"I forgot, you probably haven't seen me with it yet. You ever ride one?"

"No" she shook her head

"We'll change that"

Honestly – he'd love nothing more than to take her home, he could think of no better way to end the night and that's what was so sobering. He wanted to do things right this time, with her - and if he took her home tonight he just knew he'd wake up tomorrow regretting his actions and that she would too.

The ride ended and once again Marko helped Danielle down from her seat, his hands lingering on her waist for just that second longer before releasing her. This time she took his hand and the small action shocked him more than he would ever like to admit as he followed after her lead. It had also started to rain again.

"Let's get you home" he nodded in the direction towards where he knew her apartment was "You're not dressed to be out in the rain, I don't want you to get sick"

He held onto her hand tightly as they walked through the rain and every now and again he would look at her and just smile – tonight had gone far better than he had planned. Before she showed up all he could think about was what he was going to possibly say to explain his absence, family problems seemed to work at it wasn't as if it was a complete lie. Then what? What would he do then? He didn't do _feelings_ of any sort and he hadn't done in a seriously long time – to say that he had been stuck with blanks would have summed up the situation perfectly. Now the question was; what now? There he was and there she was, holding his hand as they walked through the rain and back towards her apartment. He had just bought her dinner. They had just ridden the Carousel together.

They arrived at her apartment far too quickly.

Danielle stood in front him, looking up the where her apartment sits while raindrops fall down her face once more and god help him he wanted nothing more than to kiss her. But he couldn't – he wouldn't. Not until she knew _everything._

"I have had a fantastic night" she said with a large smile, looking to meet his eyes once she had finished "Thank you for dinner"

"Good. Look-" he took a deep breath before looking to his feet "I don't do this, ever – with girls, because I don't know, I've never seen a point" he paused for a moment before looking to her once more "But I see a point now, you're my point and I'm trying really, really hard not to fuck things up and I will continue to do so. But you need to know something before we do whatever it is that _this_ is – I'm dark, my past is dark and my future is also dark. You see I know shit about your past, what your life was like before here and the fact you even opened up about that to me in the first place was just insane. You don't know some of the things that I've done – the things that I do and I just-" he paused once more, eying her black face "I want to be better, so I'm going to try – for you"

He felt like a complete and utter idiot.

Which was why his eyes widened and if it had still been beating his heart would have skipped several beats as her arms wrapped up his backside. She was hugging him.

"Goodnight, I'll see you tomorrow and thank you again for such a wonderful night - same time as usual okay? Dinner will be ready around six"

Marko was left on the street in the rain with a smile on his face that not even the gods could take away from him.


	12. Bending

**Chasing Ghosts  
Chapter Twelve:** Bending  
**Word Count: **5,289**  
Notes: **I'm very happy to say that I am going to try and update a little more frequently, my muse is slowly coming back. **  
Disclaimer: **I do not own the Lost Boys.

**-0-**

To say that she was surprised upon seeing Paul's face on the other side of her door for the second time in two days would be a little bit of an understatement. Surprise soon turned into delight as she noticed Marko standing off to the side. Annoyed – that was the word she used to sum up how Marko currently looked – but she couldn't bring herself to feel the same emotion. Lucky she always shops for enough ingredients so that she'd be set for the rest of the week.

"What's for dinner?" Paul asked with a wink and a moment later he was walking around Danielle and into her apartment "Ah you're making Pizza? I love Pizza, what a coincidence!"

"I'm sorry" Marko muttered as he eyed the back of Paul's head like he wanted nothing more than to rip it off of his shoulders "He said he was only coming up to say hello and that was it"

"I don't mind, he's your best friend Marko its fine. Come in"

"You sure? Because I can make him leave-"

"You could not" Paul interrupted with a laugh "I'm older"

"That doesn't mean anything" Marko rebutted "Remember that time with the window?"

Danielle paused on her way into the kitchen, a window? Surely he couldn't mean what she thought he meant

"Yeah he threw me through a window alright – your boy is off the hook crazy" Paul said rather sadly – but she saw through it. _Your Boy._ To hide her embarrassment she turned around to face the unprepared bases and toppings before her on the kitchen counter.

"I don't think he's that crazy" she said whilst smiling to herself – a mystery, yes but crazy – absolutely not.

"Girl, I could tell you some crazy stories-" he laughed "-ow!"

"Stop being an ass" she heard Marko mutter "It's bad enough you're here in the first place"

"Well maybe I wouldn't be here if you didn't insist on keeping her all to yourself night after night. You know I still haven't gotten a single thank you – from either of you might I add for setting this whole thing up in the first place!"

"Setting this up?" she laughed while cutting up some pineapple "Humour me, how did you set this whole thing up in the first place?"

"Well-" Paul began, clearing his throat "If memory serves me right, which it does, you were the one that ran into me which started this whole friendship off right?"

"Well, I can't say that we were friends when you knocked me over which resulted in the near loss of the Chinese I had just bought"

"The next time we saw one another you were the one to run into me-" he began once more, choosing to ignore her last words "-don't play dumb, it's obvious – this whole thing between you two could not have possibly happened if it wasn't for me, I mean, I practically set this whole thing up! And not a single thank you either, I am actually very – very hurt. I'm putting Cupid to shame over here"

The fact that she knew she didn't have to turn around to see that Paul was smiling told her more than anything – as close as she was growing to Marko she knew she was also growing close to Paul as well. Instead she shook her head in response to his words and went on to grate some cheese.

"This whole thing between Marko and I huh?" she asked with a roll of her eyes "Well, you seem to know a lot of what is apparently going on Paul. So thank you, so much for setting this whole thing up"

"Marko doesn't hide anything from me – he literally can't. Girl, you should have seen him when he came in last night-" Paul suddenly stopped and cried out in pain"-hey that hurt you little shit"

"Last night?" she asked, turning around to glance at the two boys who were now sitting next to one another on the couch; Paul was rubbing his arm and Marko had his arms folded across his chest in annoyance.

"He had a skip in his step and all – hey don't even think about it!" Paul yelled the last half of his sentence and moved his hands to try and protect his body – Marko had barely moved an inch but she found it funny how such a small movement set Paul off.

"Paul – you look like an out of character Ninja with blonde hair" she laughed "I'm going to have to try and sketch that from my memory"

"You know, I could say many, many dirty things in response to what you just said but I'm going to be respectful"

"I'm sure you could Paul" she said with a shake of her head before returning to her place in the kitchen once more "I hope you like what I'm cooking"

"I'll eat anything" Paul commented

"Do you need any help?"

Once again she had to try incredibly hard to stop herself from jumping at how close Marko now was as she hadn't heard a single footstep before he had spoken to her. Paul may have looked like a ninja a moment ago but Marko sure as hell moved like one.

"Do you have any idea how much that scares the living daylights out of me?" she laughed quietly

"I sure do. Do you need any help at all?"

"Nope" she replied, turning her head a little so that she could see his face "Honestly, you know how much I love cooking – I'm fine, go make yourself at home"

"I always make myself at home, while you cook for me" he frowned "I feel like I should be doing a little work here"

"C'mon man, just let your girl cook for you – I'm sure if she needed a hand that she would ask one of us"

His words nearly made her laugh out loud; she was the exact opposite of what he had just said.

"Give me strength and give me patience – never-ending patience" Marko muttered and this time she couldn't help the laugh that escaped her.

After she finished preparing the three different types of pizzas she placed them into the already warm over to let them cook, then she joined the two boys sitting on the couch. Marko still looked mad but she could tell that it was wearing thin – he was trying to keep a placid face but was failing miserably.

"You can't be mad at me bro, you just can't - you love me too much to ever be able to stay fully mad at me"

"If you weren't such a dick maybe I wouldn't be mad at you as often as I am" Marko deadpanned

It was then that Danielle realised that she could sit back and watch them banter and simply be happy with just that. Friendship and bonds like the one that they had was rare.

"I mean, you're practically third wheeling me and my girl here"

In that moment she was incredibly thankful that she couldn't see her own face and all she could do was blink and stare at the boy who had just called her his girl. Another moment later she prayed that he face didn't resemble the colour of a fire engine. Waking up two months ago she never thought that she would ever, ever be someone else's girl – funny enough waking up a year ago she still thought very much the same thing. Attending school her mind was focused on her art and English classes and when she was home she was too busy taking care of her Mother to think of anything else. Boys were a subject that never crossed her mind; she simply didn't have the time or space. Santa Carla proved to be no different – at first – the first thing on her mind when she had arrived was to get a job and to find a place to live and still to the day she is thankful that both were as easy as they happened to be. Edgar and Alan Frog were soon the two things she worried and stressed about after that. Thinking about it now she couldn't help but throw a little but more of her confidence out of the open window beside her couch; she had absolutely no idea how to be someone's girl.

"Third wheeling?" Paul choked "Best friends do not third wheel; I am incredibly and utterly insulted"

"I really, really don't mind" Danielle said, her eyes downcast as she played with a fray in her jeans "Honestly"

Twenty minutes pass, the three are now sitting on the floor and demolishing the still hot Pizzas.

"I like that you don't eat like a Rabbit" Paul commented and she looked up to see that he was eyeing her fourth slice of pizza

"What?"

"You're not all like 'I am not eating anything unless it's a salad' or 'I won't touch that – it has carbs' and all that shit"

"Oh – is that normal?" she asked, looking down to what would soon be her fifth slice of pizza

"No!" Marko interrupted her train of thought "No, no they are not"

"Fuck, nah I wasn't saying it to offend you! It was a compliment" Paul laughed awkwardly as he runs a hand through his long hair – it was a little amusing seeing him this uncomfortable "Shit"

"I wasn't offended. I like food" she said with a shrug before taking the first bite "I like cooking, a lot and I thoroughly enjoy eating what I make. Life is too short to not enjoy good food"

"Now that – that is normal" Paul grinned "One thing I can't stand about most chicks is that they just won't like eat in front of you – you know? I don't think I could ever be with a girl who did that. Or just eats salad and nothing else. And fat free products. Like nah, I need my Chinese take-out and Pizza"

"Well, I mean you can't really judge someone by what they eat" she pointed out, watching as Marko and Paul share a quick glance with one another

"You can if they're really snotty about it" Paul debated

"Well – I guess-"

"You're too nice. How did you even end up with this guy?"

"Well, apparently – according to _you_ – it's all thanks to you Paul"

Marko began coughing on his pizza and choked back a laugh at her words; Paul on the other hand looked completely shocked at her sudden comment

"You're supposed to be the nice one who's never mean, or sarcastic!" he cried "I thought I had you all figured out!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't think you would be offended" she laughed, taking in his hurt look once more "Did I honestly offend you? I am sorry-"

"Don't apologise" Marko insisted, finally swallowing his laughter "Stop making her feel guilty"

When all three pizzas were demolished Danielle gathered the plates and with a lot of insisting on her behalf began to wash them clean.

"Have fun kids" Paul said and a moment later she heard her front door open and close. Now it was just her and Marko and she was taking as long as she possibly could to wash the dishes without looking suspicious. Nervous is a word that would put what she was currently feeling lightly, she could feel her own heart beating inside of her ears and looking down she saw that her hands were just capable of holding on to the wet plate between her fidgeting fingers.

Not too long ago she had spent an entire week with Marko doing just as they were now. They had hung out in her apartment and talked, drawn and laughed about the silliest topics. Last night had changed a lot of things; he paid for her dinner, they held hands while walking the Boardwalk, he said that he was going to try and in response she had hugged him in the rain outside of her apartment before saying goodbye. Yes, last night had changed a lot of things and now she had no idea how to begin a sentence.

"You know I feel like those dishes are getting more attention than I am"

The plate she had been holding slipped from her hands and fell into the sink with a loud splash and in response she closed her eyes and cursed her embarrassment.

"C'mon, I'm going to take you somewhere"

"Where?" she asked, wiping her hands on her old jeans before turning around to face him

"You'll see – but before we leave I have a question to ask; do you mind getting those clothes wet?"

"Uh-" she looked down to her old pair of jeans and a plain but soft grey t-shirt that even after washing still felt quite amazing "No – not really"

"Good, c'mon"

Danielle locked her door behind her and followed Marko as he led her down the stairs, when they reached the busy Boardwalk street he grasped her hand within his own and lead her through the crowd. She relaxed her hand within his grip and returned the squeeze. After five minutes of walking he suddenly stopped in front of a lone bike sitting to the side of the Boardwalk – no chain, no nothing.

"You leave your bike here, in the middle of the Boardwalk?" she asked in surprise, turning to eye the boy that still held her hand within his own gloved one.

"No one is going to steal it" he shrugged before leaning against his bike and folding his arms over his chest

"And you're so sure of that?"

"I am positive. How do you know that this is my bike?"

"Who else's would it be?"

Marko held her gaze for a couple of seconds longer before standing to full height once more, another second later he straddles his bike and gripped the handlebars "C'mon, hop on behind me"

Danielle stared at the bike for a moment, she knew just as much about bikes as she did about boys; absolutely nothing.

"You know, you bite the corner of the side of your lip when you're nervous. Hop on, I promise I won't kill you"

"It's not you that I'm worried about" she mumbled, still eyeing the bike in front of her

"Hey – you have the easy part here, all you have to do is hold on" he smirked "C'mon, hop on behind me"

With as much care as she could, she lifted her leg over the seat and slit onto the seat behind Marko and placed both of her feet on the foot-pegs near the back wheel. Looking up once she was relatively comfortable she saw that he was now covering his smile with the palm of his hand while he stared at her; the sight sent a shiver down her spine.

"Hold onto me"

"Pardon me?"

"You have to hold onto me or you're going to fall off"

Cautiously she wrapped her hands around his front.

"Firmer"

A moment later she locked her hands together, finally letting them rest the lower part of his stomach.

"That's better – now don't move your feet off the pegs unless I tell you too alright? Alright, now - don't let go"

Safety was one of the last things on her mind, as were the group of girls standing near where they were stationed sending her looks that could possibly kill. The only thing she focused on was the hard and defined stomach of the boy she was currently sitting behind and as Marko took off she tightened her grip and squeaked in surprise. He laughed and she could feel him move before her as she did so – but that was soon pushed to the very back of her mind as she took in the flying scenery around her.

"Are you even allowed to ride here?" she called out

"No"

With that, Marko revved the engine and his bike began to pick up its pace – her cry of laughter was just audible over the sound of his bike and for that he was thankful. They gunned down the Boardwalk and Danielle could barely put it into words; exhilarating being one of them.

**-0-**

"Marko"

"Danielle"

"Why are we outside of a High School?"

"You'll see"

Danielle fell forward on the bike as Marko suddenly hopped off, she frowned as he laughed at the sight of her

"I'm sorry" he said while mid-laugh

"You are so not sorry" she shook her head while pulling herself off the bike before finally taking in the dark high school before them. A little hill lead up to the first building which had an old, worn out sign bolted near the door that read 'Student Services' – the hill itself was covered in large trees that would be absolutely perfect for reading a book under in the sunlight. Leave it to her to think about books while standing outside of a High School, at night, with a boy.

"I'll show you why I bought you here, follow me"

Marko took up the hill before them and Danielle quickly followed as he led her around the Student Services building and deeper into the school. Kent Street Seniors High School was not locked up at night and as the two walked through the silent halls between the class buildings she couldn't help but take in all of the closed rooms with faded numbers hanging on the doors. The school itself wasn't very different in structure compared to the one she had attended and for a moment she felt a pang of longing for her old art teacher. Soon she was walking passed the cafeteria and heading down a flight of stairs, when they reached the bottom they hit a little walkway that lead to another four or five sets of stairs. From where she stood she could see that at the very bottom was a long building and beside that was a very large gated fence – though she could not see what it fenced out.

"Hope you don't mind stairs" he chuckled

"Not at all, my old school was very similar in a way"

"It will be worth it, I promise"

It didn't take long for the pair to reach the bottom of the stairs and when Danielle did she couldn't help but wonder where Marko was leader her too – that and the fact that the fence was awfully tall in height. Climbing is something that has always been a difficult task for her to accomplish.

"Don't worry; you won't have to climb the fence"

"Good, because I can't climb to save my life"

"Heights?"

"No – heights are fine. It's being able to see the ground that's the problem. It doesn't even have to be a fence, it could be a ladder or a set of stairs and it would be the exact same. Silly, I know"

"No, it isn't"

She turned to meet Marko's eyes "So what's behind the fence?"

"Close your eyes"

She did without a second hesitation and let him lead her blindly towards the gate – she laughed as she heard the gate open with ease

"It's open?"

"It's always open"

"And what if it hadn't have been?"

"I would have carried you over"

"Impossible"

"You sure? I could show you?"

"No thankyou"

"Open your eyes"

She had absolutely no idea why she didn't figure it out sooner. Before her sat a large swimming pool that was completely and utterly empty beside the two ducks swimming at the furthermost end. Two lights sit on the side of the building beside her; it isn't much but it illuminates the clean water before her.

"I thought this was an awesome idea until I just realised it would be quite terrible if you know – you can't swim"

Danielle didn't give it a second thought before she slipped off her boots and dived into the lukewarm pool. As the water claimed her skin she smiled and swam further into the deeper end with a simple breaststroke – truth be told she loved swimming, so much that when she was younger her mother had nicknamed her 'Water Baby'. But that had been a lifetime ago, before the drugs, the alcohol and the countless men. When she emerged she found that she had nearly made it to the end of the deepest part of the pool, turning she saw that it had a depth of two meters exactly and that Marko was still frozen in the place where she had left him near the edge.

"I thought we were swimming? Was that not the plan?" she smirked and from her spot in the water she barely, just barely noticed him raise an eyebrow. Marko shrugged his patched jacket off slowly before stripping himself free of his shirt leaving him standing in nothing more than his jeans and boots. His jeans hung on his hips and were held up by a single black belt, after lingering for a moment she couldn't help but stare at his pale but toned upper body as he slipped out of his shoes.

When she had been in school all of the girls used to rave on about who was cute and who was hot – but neither of those words came to mind as she looked upon his form. Marko was both of them combined and more, he was absolutely gorgeous – no, positively stunning and it was hard for her to believe that he was here, in reality and not in the pages of a book she happened to be reading. Her thoughts faded as he took a step closer to the pools edge and barely ten seconds passed after his dive before he was beside her, flicking his long blonde hair out of his face and staring into her eyes.

"This is why we were outside of a High School, at night"

"This is – an amazing surprise" she smiled, swimming over to the edge and sitting herself upon the second step of the ladder that sat nearby "I can honestly say that I was not expecting this at all"

"How'd you like the bike ride?"

"For someone who hates rollercoasters I was incredibly surprised" she laughed "Exhilarating comes to mind"

"I'm glad" he grinned, swimming over to where she sat "You like the water?"

"I do, I love it! The temperature is just perfect, not too cold but nor warm either. You know, before tonight I had absolutely no idea how much I missed the water"

"The beach is close to you" he pointed out

"I don't swim in the beach; I can't stand the sea water – or sharks. I won't bother them as long as they don't bother me"

"It is highly, highly unlikely you'll get bitten by a shark by swimming in the Santa Carla beach" he laughed

"Still"

"Fair enough – I guess I can accept your reasoning"

Before she could reply he suddenly grasped her leg and with a little tug sent her falling back into the depths of the water, when she emerged she found herself laughing before sending a splash back in response. For an hour they continued just that; splashing one another, talking and swimming lengths of the pool at their own pace and for an hour she was utterly content with her life. Soon she found herself sitting on the edge of the pool in the shallow end and once again staring at Marko who was only a couple of feet away. His bare torso was once again visible and this time instead of growing embarrassed and turning away she gazed upon his pale structure.

"You're staring at me again"

"I'm sorry"

"No – you're not"

Danielle Jones lifted her head at his words and watched as he walked closer to where she sat. Even though she sat on the edge of the pool he was just about level with her when it came to height which was a thought that made her incredibly nervous, soon he leant against her knees and moved a hand to each of them. In an instant he had pulled her legs apart slightly so that he could stand between them, his arms now resting on the edges beside her – her eyes grew wide at his fast action and once again she found that she could hear her heart beating in her own ears.

"Marko" she said faintly

"Mm"

"Are you going to kiss me?"

"Do you want me to kiss you?"

She could feel his breath on her face he was that close and she couldn't think of anything else but his lips upon her own. Slowly she closed her eyes and opened her mouth to speak but was suddenly interrupted by the feel of his lips upon her own. Marko's lips were soft and gentle – but she only had a couple of seconds to take everything in before he broke the kiss and moved away. Without a second thought or opening her eyes she moved forward and kissed him once more.

**-0-**

**Marko** was shocked when he felt her lips upon his own, shocked and incredibly, frustratingly turned on even though he was up to his hips in water. Once again he closed his eyes and leaned into her soft kiss, one of his hands moving up to cradle the side of her face while the other tangled itself with her still wet hair. When she let out a small sound against his closed lips he couldn't stop himself – he really couldn't. Nibbling lightly on her lower lip he grinned as her mouth parted slightly, taking his chance he invaded her mouth with his tongue and grinned once more as she made a little sound of approval.

Finally, after weeks and weeks of anticipation he finally knew what kissing Danielle Jones felt like and half of him was internally freaking the hell out. He'd kissed girls before, let's be honest he'd kissed a lot of girls before and he couldn't compare a single one to the one he was thoroughly enjoying right this second. Amazing, it was simply amazing what a little kiss could do to him in such a short span of time. As time passed she began to move her tongue on her own accord and the action sent him into a near frenzy – suddenly he pushed against her and he groaned as he felt every inch of her upper body against his own. He knew he was going to have to put a stop to this soon and he also knew that when he got home Paul was going to absolutely ridicule him. But damn, it would be worth every second.

As he broke the kiss he moved to the corner of her lips instead, then to her cheek and finally to the side of her jaw – it was Danielle's sudden movements against him that knocked the sense into him. This was a red zone that he had to stay away from – at least, for now. Taking a step away from her was one of the hardest things that he had ever had to do and so he did it slowly, what he wasn't expecting was the groan of complaint at the loss of contact and for the second time in the past five minutes he nearly lost all control.

"I told myself I wasn't going to do that, over and over and over again before I saw you tonight"

"What changed your mind?" She asked, still breathing hard whilst trying her hardest not to look disappointed at the distance between them

"You, sitting on the edge of that pool looking like a complete dream. C'mon – let's get you home"

As he hopped out of the pool he couldn't help but smirk as he noticed Danielle watching him re-dress. His smirk soon faded as he took in her soaking wet form as she too stood to her own feet. This entire situation was going to be a little more difficult than he had originally thought

"What? Have I got something on me?" she asked, casting her eyes downwards

"No - no" he shook his head "Let's head back – I don't know if they patrol the school at night"

"What?" she asked and he laughed at the tremble in her voice

"I don't know whether they patrol the school at night?"

"Okay let's go" she replied hurriedly, slipping on her boots and wincing at the feel

"Nice isn't it?"

"Nope, not a word I would use"

Riding on his motorcycle was not uncomfortable because they were both still wet from the pool, it was uncomfortable because as she slid against him he could feel absolutely every inch of her body flush against his back – which made things uncomfortable for him seeing as he had to concentrate on the road and not pulling over and kissing her senseless against his bike. Shaking his head he tried to clear his thoughts, soon finding that it was quite literally impossible. Yeah, Paul was most definitely going to give him a world of shit when he turned in for the night.

He arrived outside of her apartment building barely ten minutes later and this time he helped her off the motorcycle – he didn't know if it was the thoughts practically screaming for his attention or the feel of the stare on the side of his face, but he looked to his left and saw a group of three girls openly staring at him, or well, staring at Danielle. But staring would be putting it politely; they were trying to kill her with a look. Each of them had their hair bleached blonde and were wearing short skirts and tight t-shirts, neither parts were surprising seeing as that was how most of the girls dressed around here but what was surprising was that he recognized two of them. Paul had been hanging around one of them a few weeks ago and around the same time another had tried hooking in with him when he had been on his way to see Danielle – he had shut her down harshly. It was then that he saw the current problem.

Marko slung an arm around her shoulder and sent the three girls a look that made them freeze in their spots before they promptly turned around to face the other direction.

"Are you going to come up?" she asked nervously

"Nah, not tonight Dan"

He had no idea where the nickname came from, but he liked it.

"Why?"

"Because you and I both will regret the decision if I do"

"How do you know that I'd regret it?"

He closed his eyes as her words replayed over and over again inside of his head, a moment later he opened them to stare into her dark, chocolate brown eyes. He cupped her face once more and leant in slightly so that they were nearly touching

"Because I know you and I know how you think. Tonight you had what I guess to be your first kiss and I assure you that you nor I are ready for anything more than that – no matter how much I would like to think otherwise"

"You're trying really hard aren't you?"

"How can you tell?" he asked in surprise

"I'm not blind. I see the way that the girls around here look at me when I'm with you, or Paul for the matter – it was once of the first things I noticed when is started hanging around you two. You haven't done this with the other girls around here, but yet you're here trying and bending with me"

"Bending huh?" he asked, thinking her words over "I like it, it suits the situation" He pecked her lightly on the lips before releasing his hold "Sweet dreams Danielle Jones"

**-0-**

**Another Note: **Kent Street Senior High school was the high school I attended, it couldn't be bothered thinking of a fake name seeing as I absolutely suck at doing that. Hopefully Marko isn't too OOC for everyone, please let me know if he is! With love, J.


	13. Understanding

**Chasing Ghosts  
Chapter Thirteen:** Understanding  
**Word Count: **2,386  
**Notes:** I have had some amazing reviews and reviewers as of late! Thanks again to all of those who are taking the time to let me know that they love the chapters! This is just a short, little filler chapter and is dedicated to user TomieHarley who's reviews in particular always make me smile – not only that but a while ago she gave me the idea for this chapter

**-0-**

"How old are you?"

"Eighteen"

"You're jackets weird"

"_Unique_. My jacket is Unique"

"And your hair"

"Well, you're full off compliments aren't you?"

"Always. What's your last name?"

"Winter"

She didn't know that.

"Where did you live before Santa Carla?"

"Europe"

That, she did know.

"Why did you move here?"

"Change of scenery"

That she also knew, though she had a pretty good feeling there was a little bit more to the story.

"Did you finish High School?"

"Yes"

"GPA?"

"3.0" there was a short pause "Not expecting that, were you?"

"Not really"

Danielle Jones had her head in her hands as she listened to Edgar Frog shoot question after question and not to mention a little criticism at Marko who was leaning on the comic book counter in front of her. It was a warm, Monday evening and only two days had passed since she and Marko had shared their kiss in the High Schools swimming pool. To say that his effect had lingered on her the day before throughout her day was putting it simply. Her eyes had found his immediately when he had walked into the Comic shop five minutes earlier and now she found herself here, absolutely mortified as the Frog Brothers interrogated her somewhat boyfriend.

Somewhat boyfriend. What a name. The last time they had been together, he had called her 'his girl' when he had been talking to Paul in her apartment. That meant something right? It wasn't that she needed a label, because she didn't and pushing the topic was the last thing she was about to do, but what was she going to refer him as? And that was how it had all begun five minutes ago.

"Your boyfriend is here" Edgar had mumbled

"He isn't-" Danielle had paused, frowning unconsciously in confusion as she took in Marko's form "It's – I, well-"

"What do you mean he isn't your boyfriend?" he demanded and since then it had escalated and degradation and embarrassment like she had never, ever felt before soon followed.

"She said you weren't her boyfriend. So what are you?" Edgar asked bluntly and she nearly toppled from her chair from beside him.

"Did she now?"

For the first time since he had taken his position from across from where she sat she looked up and met his eyes, he leant with both forearms resting on the glass of the counter and his eyes were now trained on her, looking incredibly amused as he did so. It did not help matters that he looked frustratingly gorgeous. Instead of his clockwork white singlet a black t-shirt held its place and hugged every firm inch of torso he had and it was very hard not to stare – too much.

"Well-" she began, but stopped. How could she explain what was currently going on inside of her head? She had absolutely no idea where to begin.

"I'm hers"

Her insides melted and her stomach clenched at his words. _Hers_.

"You're hers" Edgar deadpanned "If that isn't the most cheesy shit I have ever heard, I don't know what is"

"You know, your brother is a lot more pleasant than you are" Marko deadpanned with an annoyed frown, now looking to Alan who was leaning against the wall behind where she sat

"He gets that a lot" she mumbled, her head still swimming over what he had just said

"Look at you – all red in the face, I didn't think you'd be so easy to charm" Edgar turned; now frowning at her instead of the blonde

"You're a terrible, terrible person" she mumbled

"It isn't that she's easily charmed – I'm just a charming guy" Marko grinned

"Yeah, I've seen" Edgar blinked "With many, many others"

The silence was so thick and tense that you could cut it with a knife. Not only was the tension awkward but Danielle suddenly felt like she was falling through the floor and to the depths below. It wasn't just others, it was many others. She didn't care that he had been with other girls and if she did she would be ashamed with herself for feeling that way. What type of person would she be if she judged someone – anyone by the amount of people they had been with before? No, it wasn't that at all – it was the she herself was as experienced as a thirteen year old. As much as she wanted to believe that she could be enough for Marko she couldn't help but fear that she would also never be enough for him at the same time. It made no sense. He had given her confidence that she had never had before, but she was still utterly terrified that he was going to grow bored of her and throw her away at any given minute.

"I'm hers" Marko repeated, his thumb coming over to brush the top of her clenched fist and suddenly she realised that she had performed the action in the first place "And she's mine. I don't need anyone else, and I won't be looking at anyone else while I have her. Does that answer your question?"

"It wasn't a question – it was a statement"

"Well, I can't exactly answer that then, can I?"

"You can't exactly expect us to think highly of you" Alan stated "We care about her too – shut up Edgar – so we do get a bit cautious especially seeing as we've both seen you around with other girls. Not even that but – look what happened the last time we spoke, you left and disappeared for like two weeks with nothing but a word"

"That won't happen again" he replied boldly and somewhat defiantly "I don't make promises, but that I something I will promise. If she wants me around, I'll be here"

"Why?" Alan frowned

"As if you don't know" he scoffed with a small roll of his eyes, his thumb still tracing circles over her now relaxed hand "As you said before yourself, you care about her too"

"But I wanna' hear it from you. Why her" Alan asked again, genuine curiosity lacing his tone

"What? Don't wanna sound like a pussy or something?" Edgar smirked

"Because I have met and encountered thousands of people, and I have never in my life come across someone as genuinely selfless or kind as I have with her" Once again she met his eyes and couldn't help the smile that graced her lips at the compliment "Not only that, but she's talented with a pencil and I think that that is one of the most attractive traits in someone – talent, efficiency and hard work when it comes to something they love. So there you have it, the first three things that drew me to her and the first two are the reason why I began to care in the first place" Marko paused before turning to look at Edgar once more "You – I don't like. But I suck it up because I care about her. Keep that in mind"

Five minutes passed and Danielle was now holding Marko's hand as they strolled through the Boardwalk, a large smile gracing her face as the lights swam before her eyes.

"Mortified was putting it lightly, that was the worst ten minutes of my life – well, not the worst"

"I was gonna say, you got a confession out of me and everything"

"I am sorry, again – they just, and they're like little brothers"

"That's all that matters. You care about them right?"

"Yes"

"Then it's enough for me-"

Before Marko could finish his sentence Danielle let out a squeal of shock as someone wrapped their arms around her waist and lifted her off the ground – glancing down she noticed a familiar pair of boots and wristbands of another blonde she knew all too well

"Paul-"

"Dan-ay!" He cheered, squeezing her firmly before placing her back to the ground once more "Hey man, nice night yeah?"

"I was just about to punch you in the face" Marko frowned "Don't sneak up on her like that alright?"

"He's getting protective over you" Paul 'whispered' into her ear

"For good reasons"

His stern tone took her by surprise but it warmed her heart all the same. To be completely honest, Bo and James were the last things on her mind and it had been like that since the fight between them, Marko and Paul had occurred. At least, that's what she assumed he was referring to in the first place.

"Good reasons indeed" Danielle turned around to face the newest addition to the conversation. Her eyes locked with David's, he wore his usual dark trench coat and his white platinum hair spiked slightly. It took her by surprise that he wasn't looking at her like he was studying her every thought and move. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop. Marko and Paul told me what happened when it occurred months ago – I hope you were not traumatised by the experience"

"Nothing happened, not really anyway" she shrugged with a smile "No trauma here"

"It wasn't nothing" Marko mumbled in annoyance

"People have gotten worse" she pointed out

"That isn't the point"

"It is" David somewhat smiled, the first she had ever seen – not that she had seen very much of him in the first place "So – Marko, the boys and I were going to go for a feed. You hungry?"

"I can always eat" he grinned

"You want to tag along?" David asked her and she nodded in response

"As long as I'm not intruding"

"No, not at all" he stared, before swiftly turning and walking in the opposite direction "What are we feeling tonight? Or do I even have to ask?"

"Nope" Marko and Paul both chimed together.

Funny enough, it wasn't as awkward as she thought it would be. David didn't begin the conversation much over Dinner but it wasn't like he was just sitting in the corner of the booth and keeping to himself. He was intimidating, she would give him that – but that wasn't who he was as a person. He was also serious to his bone, yet had an air of humour about him she hoped she would get to know after seeing a little more of him. Intelligent was also a trait that came to mind when she thought about it, not only on paper but in the way he spoke and presented himself as well.

"Well, at least you don't look like you're going to run in the opposite direction" Paul laughed "David usually sends the girls running in the opposite direction"

"Should I be intimidated?" she asked, mocking seriousness as she played with her chopsticks

"Oh yes" he nodded, with a small roll of his eyes "Though, it is a bit of a surprise"

"Are most people seriously that intimidated and scared by you?"

He scoffed.

"I take that as a yes then" she chuckled with a small shake of her head "It's not that you're not intimidating – you are, especially when you look like you're literally reading someone like an open book. But there is obviously more to you right?"

"I guess you could say that. Or maybe you're just too kind for your own good"

"You wouldn't be the first person to tell me that"

**-0-**

She was running. The wet sand between her bare toes felt oddly soothing but it was absolutely nothing compared to the feel of the wind blowing her hair wildly around her face. She'd never enjoyed running before now, but in that moment she felt so utterly and completely free. After a moment she stopped and breathed in – the air tasted like the ocean and as much as she used to despise it she felt herself warming up to the idea as each second passed.

"Marko!" she called out, her eyes closing as she felt a lone raindrop fall to her cheek from the skies above "Where did you go?"

She had seen him only moments before – surely, just before she had begun running. Why had she started running? Who knows. But it was amazing nonetheless. The rain was soon pouring down and as she felt herself become soaked to her bones she tilted her head back to the dark and stormy skies. Footsteps suddenly caught her attention but when she turned she saw an empty beach.

"Marko – where did you go?" she asked, turning to face the water once more and thoughts of how cold it must be filled her head as she began to walk forwards. When her toes hit the water she smiled in relief at the warmth before continuing her journey until the water was at her knees, her fingertips barely grazing the water's surface as she emerged herself even further. It was so warm, so beautiful and past fears about the Sea and the Ocean were long forgotten as she closed her eyes once more and tilted her head back to the rainy sky. Breathing in another whiff of the seas she hoped that she might see some of the thunder and lightning before she fell asleep.

Time passed and after a while she opened her eyes and looked down at the crystal clear ocean before her – and it was the most odd sight she had ever seen in her entire life. She could see absolutely everything like there was no water at all, from every detail in the pair of jeans that she wore to the sand beneath her toes holding home to stones and seaweed. As she stared at holes in her jeans the surface began to shimmer and soon instead of the sea floor it was her face looking back. If the surface showed a reflection, she was not alone. A dark figure stood behind her and it was absolutely impossible to tell who it could be and as she opened her mouth to cry out a pale hand soon stopped her from making whatever noise she was about to make. Her eyes widened and she felt herself begin to shake as she watched a hand trace over her collarbone, over and over again. Before long, the stroked grew harder, and harder – "NO"

Danielle Jones opened her eyes, breath heavy with fright before realising she was not in the Santa Carla beach water, but safe and sound in her apartment.

**-0-**

Author Note: The first half of the chapter was **not** a dream. Only the second part was.


	14. Drowning

Chasing Ghosts  
**Chapter Fourteen**: Drowning  
Word Count: 4,104  
Note: The Chapter that I'm sure you've all been waiting for.  
**Warning**: Heated scenes nearing the end of the chapter - nothing too hard-core though (yet. Rating my change for future chapters, though I am still unsure of this)

**-0-**

The clock in Danielle Jones' living room struck five o'clock and she was sure that she could still taste the salty air, even though she had woken hours and hours before. Nightmares were not a new occurrence as she had been plagued with them for years; what was a new occurrence were the lingering effects that the dream had – the salty air and the fear that someone was currently watching everything that she did. To say that she felt uneasy would be putting everything lightly. Only a couple of more minutes passed before she stood to her feet, finding herself in the kitchen a moment later to prepare dinner. She could have sworn it was all real; absolutely everything - even more sure than she was about what the shadow would have done if she hadn't have woken up. Because she knew, she just knew deep down inside of her that the shadowed figure would have ripped open her throat with its bare hands if she had stayed asleep for just that moment longer.

Well – the dream was certainly different to the ones that she had been having as of late. As she mixed five cracked eggs into a bowel viscously she was plagued with memories of her older dreams – the ones that had been occurring for nearly a week before the nightmare the night before, dreams that involved particular situations with a certain blonde hair, blue eyed boy. She felt her cheeks redden at the thought. To say she and Marko were far, far from that particular situation was indeed correct; but that didn't stop the tight feeling in her stomach that occurred whenever she thought back to the dreams and the effect that they happened to have on her.

With a grunt she pushed the thoughts of her dreams and her nightmares aside and threw herself into the task of cooking dinner; French toast. Yes, she was aware that it was clearly a breakfast food but seeing as breakfast was her favourite meal of the day she found that she simply did not care at all that much. The beaten eggs were cool upon her fingertips as she soaked the slice of bread and only minutes later the mouth-watering smell of the cooking toast was filling her nostril. Her nightmare and her dreams was momentarily forgotten and another event that helped that was a sudden knocking on her front door.

Danielle Jones practically ran towards her door and in that very moment she was not ashamed to admit that to anyone – well, anyone minus Edgar. But it was not Edgar standing on the other side of the door – no, definitely not – deep down she knew. It was Marko.

"Where is your jacket?" she asked in astonishment as she settled on his frame

"Well, hello to you too" he grinned from behind his palm

"Hello" she began once more "Where is your jacket?"

"I left it at home"

"You look-" she paused "Odd without it"

"Thanks" he scoffed before making his way into her apartment "Whatever you're cooking smells good to say the least"

"French Toast"

"Isn't that a breakfast food?"

"Yes" she nodded, eyeing him carefully "Is that okay?"

"Of course" he said with another grin "Favourite meal of the day"

"Me too" she blushing slightly as she held her gaze "I'm going to go back to cooking – I don't want it to burn"

As she made her way back towards the stove she could not help but think back to his cute, hidden little grins she often saw, flipping the pan with an absolute perfect precision as she did so.

"I don't get a kiss hello?"

She would never, ever get used to his silent footsteps. Marko was standing so, so very close to her that a shiver run up and down her spine involuntarily and a moment later she felt his lips at the corner of her face while his hands ghosted over the sides of her waist.

"Hello Marko" she breathed with complete and utter contentment

"Hello, Danielle. Now that, was a lot better"

Finding the words to reply deemed a little difficult; so she didn't. Instead she continued to cook and finish the meal off before sliding the finished product onto a single plate.

"One of these days I will cook for you" he insisted, eyes hardening as he glanced down to the plate sitting between them "It will be nowhere as good as your cooking, but I will cook for you"

"You really don't have too-"

"I know, but I will. Wanna go down for a walk after this?"

"Sure" she nodded with a large smile "We meeting up with anyone?"

"Most likely - you know how Paul can be" he replied with a slight frown

"I do know how Paul can be" she laughed "He is quite a character; I have come to like him quite a bit"

"Like him huh?" Marko asked with a cock of his brow

"Oh yes, I do. It seems as if I have become quite fond of you too" she responded with a small bite to her lower lip as she came to terms with what she had just said out loud - to say she felt utterly mortified would be completely spot on. She was being too girly, too pushy. Her thoughts were eased as he leant over to grasp one of her hands within his own and she was shocked to find his skin was absolutely freezing to touch.

"You're so cold" she blinked "You really should not have left without your jacket"

That didn't mean he didn't look absolutely amazing without it though. Tonight, he wore a form-fitting black t-shirt and a pair of loose fitting jeans. She had absolutely no idea how he looked like an absolute God so simply, no idea at all.

"I've always had a cool body temperature" he shrugged "It's nothing to worry about"

"Are you sure?" she frowned

"Positive"

The conversation changed immediately and soon Danielle found herself holding onto Marko's hand as they weaved themselves in and around the large, noisy crowds of the Santa Carla Boardwalk.

"Okay I have another one - would you rather take a sledgehammer to the back of both of your ankles, or have your tongue whipped five-hundred times with a bamboo rod?" she asked

"How in the world do you think of these?"

"My friends and I had years of practise, we used to write them down in this little book. I remember most of them"

"Bamboo rod" he said slowly, glancing to look at her reaction as he did "Don't look at me like that!"

"I'm not looking at you like anything!"

"You are" he said firmly "It's like you're judging my choice!"

"It is so funny though" she laughed

"It is not funny"

"Would you rather be clobbered to death with a zucchini or be suffocated to death with zucchini?"

"What type of question is that?" he gawked "Neither"

"That is not an option"

"Yes, it is"

"It sounds as if you two are having the _absolute _time of your lives"

Danielle did not have to turn around to know who the voice belonged too; by now she recognised it just as easily as she did Marko.

"Yes! This is going to be great, you can play too!" she grinned wide with excitement

"It really isn't" Marko groaned with a playful roll of his eyes

"Okay Paul, would you rather – Oh I have one! Would you rather be submerged into a deep fryer over and over until you died or be microwaved to death?"

"Microwave" he said simply with a grin, having now linked his arm between her free one

"Ooh really?"

"Are you judging my choice?"

"See! That's what I said!"

"My turn" Paul grinned wickedly "Would you rather have sex in an aeroplane bathroom or on a golf course at night"

"Aeroplane" Marko smiled

"Danielle?" Paul nudged with a little smirk

"Of course you come in with all the sexual questions, why does this not surprise me? Aeroplane" she sighed with a roll of her eyes, trying her best not to let her embarrassment of the subject show through at all

"Would you rather tell your partner _everything _about your sexual past or tell them every sexual thought you have had about another person?" the tallest of the three asked once more

"Past" she blurted quickly

"That was fast" Paul laughed

"Well – there really is nothing to tell" she shrugged

"Girl you know that isn't fair! But the real question is, who have you been having sexual thoughts about" he said with a wink and a moment later he received a very, very hard slap to the back of the head from Marko in return "Okay – I may have deserved that"

"Yes – you did"

"Alright – alright! You answer then"

"I agree – the past" Marko said – although rather uncomfortably.

Danielle did not miss the tone of his voice and for a moment she had second thoughts about the choice of game she decided to play tonight with the two boys. The last thing she wanted to do was to make Marko uncomfortable and it looked as if that is exactly what has happened.

To say that the next question was completely and utterly disastrous was an understatement

"I am not answering that question" she gaped, eyes wide as she looked upon Paul "That – there is no choice – that is completely disgusting – and wrong!"

"You were the one that said not that long ago that you have to choose!" Paul shot back "Pick one!"

"You first" she insisted

"Easy – the semen is the better choice-"

"I can't-" she laughed, swallowing the urge the gag at the images in her head "I can't – I quit"

"Yeah I second that" Marko shivered with disgust "Never again – we are never doing that again"

"My comparisons were not as bad as that" she pointed out "We could always play again"

"No" he shook his head "Not likely – hey, feel like going for a walk on the beach?"

She went to nod her head – before the memories of the night before washed over her like a tidal wave. But it was a dream, nothing more than a dream. Second later she smiled and allowed Marko to lead the way towards a single set of stairs that took them to the sand.

"Alright – I can tell when I'm not wanted" Paul raised his hands in defeat "Don't go getting impregnated Danny!"

"Oh my God" she sighed, her eyes shutting as embarrassment yet again washed over her entire self

"Ignore him" Marko insisted "It is very, very easy to do once you start"

Danielle couldn't tell how long they walked for – but it was a while. They both ended up taking off their shoes so that their bare feet sank into the sand and soon enough they left the lights and the loud crowds behind. The beach itself was crowded at first too but as they continued to travel east they too soon dwindled to the low numbers. It was peaceful and it was nice – the breeze was a little stronger but that wasn't something that she was about to start complaining about now. This was absolutely everything that her dream the night before was not and that in itself was something she was impeccably thankful for.

"Let's sit?" he asked, and with a nod of her head he pulled her down with him as he sat himself in the sand below so that she was resting against the front of his chest between his open legs "So"

"So" she explored "Have you drawn anything new as of late?"

"Nah – it's been all the same"

"Repetitive?"

"Very"

"You're still going to have to show me some of your larger stuff one of these days"

"How about tomorrow?" he grinned from behind her

"I like the sound of that plan" It would be the first time she would be seeing where he lived and the thought made her incredibly excited "Where do you live?"

"Hudson's' Bluff. David tells the story way better than I ever can – but long story short, the bluff contains the ruins of a hotel that was destroyed in an earthquake in 1906. We found it – David, Paul, Dwayne and me and we've lived there ever since"

"I can't wait to see it"

"It's dark"

"I don't mind the dark"

"I'm pretty dark too"

"I really, really don't mind that either"

"You should"

"But I don't"

They sat in silence while Marko tried to digest her words, and she waited ever so patiently.

"You said you were going to try – and you are, and I am so, so happy. The happiest I think I have ever been and most of that is all because of you" she admitted after what she guessed to be five minutes of thick silence, her eyes turning hard as she looked at the waves before her "I always said I would never, ever need a boy or a man to be the source of all my happiness. I've seen what that does to people, what it did to my Mum and I never, ever wanted to be like that. But I am, and I am so happy. So when you think of how dark you are just try to remember that okay? Remember how happy you make me Marko"

For a moment she sat in silence once again, and then the knot in her stomach grew as she felt his lips upon the side of her face. But he did not stop, no – she felt that it wasn't going to be that simple. His lips moved from the side of her face to her mouth as she found that she had involuntarily turned into him at just the right time – their lips met and a spark ran through her body like it had never before. Marko's hands found her waist and in an instant he had turned so that she faced him completely – her hands coming to his shoulders so that she could catch her balance before falling forward. Their kiss was deep and passionate – even more passionate than the one they had shared in the swimming pool. It meant more – it _felt_ like more and she found it hard to comprehend a single though as he continued to devour her mouth. That did not change as his hands slipped slightly under the bottom of her long sleeved t-shirt. His cool hands traced small circles onto her bare skin as she shivered further into his touches – her hands now circling around his neck.

Danielle's mouth did not leave Marko's as he skilfully flipped their positions in a timespan of two seconds. She knew that she would have to have a shower later to rid herself of the sand but she simply could not find it within herself to care – because in that very moment she could not think of anything other than how she felt, and she felt like she was currently on top of the world. As one of Marko's hands slid up her stomach she shivered once more and she could not help that her head fell back to the sand below, her breath heavy with excitement and her eyes barely open as she stared at the boy currently above her. Marko looked like what she was sure sex felt like. With his messy hair and his heaving chest he looked just as good as he did earlier when he had been sitting across from her back at the apartment – the only difference was that she thought he currently looked a whole lot better. As he moved towards her, the hand that was not currently ghosting over her ribs entwined between her dark locks – then he was kissing her once more. He broke the kiss moments later and tugged her face gently to the side so that he could then place kisses from her cheek all the way down to her neck.

The noise that escaped her lips once he began to kiss and suck on the skin at the side of her neck was one that she could not even dream of trying to stop – it was utterly involuntary and she couldn't even bring herself to feel embarrassed. It just felt too good – it all felt too damned good. One of her own hands, shaking mildly as it did, was soon wrapped in his own hair as he continued to attack her neck – one moment he was sucking and licking and another he was kissing where he had just been. She did not think that she was ready for sex when she was recalling her dreams form the past week – but she was beginning to think she could definitely get used to this. Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt his teeth nibble on another patch of her neck and once again she let out a noise that she had never, ever imagined herself capable of making. It was also in that very moment that Marko stopped. The kissing, the sucking, the biting – absolutely everything; it was like he was frozen in place.

For the first time since her back hit the sand, she listened. Her own breathing was rapid and apart from the waves only a couple of metres ahead of them that was the only sound she could currently make out. Slowly, she opened her eyes. Her head was still tilted to the side and all that she could see was the sand before her and Marko's arm as his hand was still entwined with her hair – just like hers was with his. For the first time since her back hit the sand she began to worry. He was so still, like a statue and she could not think of what could have possibly gone wrong. Surely – surely he felt just as good as she currently did?

"Marko?"

He gave her no reply and her worry soon turned into dread.

"Marko – did I do something-"

Before she could finish he was on his feet, a hand running through his own hair in what she thought had to be frustration. She could not see his face as he was facing the sea before them – but that did not stop her mind from jumping to all of the worst possible conclusions. Maybe he looked disgusted, with her – with everything they had just done.

"Marko-"

"I need a minute to clear my head" he said shortly and try as she may she could not see his face as he disappeared from sight. Turning around she saw the beginning of what looked to be a small forest of sorts and off to the side a very, very steep slope that lead to what she assumed to be a road. It was dark and she was now currently alone, her heart still beating more rapidly than it had been when she had been running away from danger all those weeks ago.

As she pulled herself up into an upright position she could not help the dark thoughts that swam around her head. She just had to have done something, she just _had _too. There was no other explanation. What had she done? Was it something that she said? Was it something that she had done?

"I've been waiting to get you alone, and outside of your tiny fucking apartment for nearly two months"

She blamed the fact that she had missed the sound of incoming footsteps on the thoughts that had been circling her head and she did not think twice as she stumbled to her feet and ran – but she got nowhere. A pair of hands pulled at her so violently that it sent her stumbling into the chest of one of the two attackers. Because she knew, deep down that Bo was not alone and that James was surely around somewhere too.

"You're not running again. You're not running ever"

Try as she may she could night fight Bo as he dragged her towards the sea – but she did put up a hell of a struggle. She kicked at his legs and his feet, breaking one of her own hands free so that she could claw at his skin – but it did nothing, it stopped absolutely nothing. As they grew closer Bo released her, only to push her so hard that she fell and stumbled into the shallowed depths of the freezing waters – she had landed on her forearms but a swift kick to her stomach sent her to her to her back. Then, she felt hands entwined in her hair and she cried out in pain as she was dragged violently further into the dark waters.

"Lover boy ran off – too bad, was going to thank him for such a show" he laughed "Now, time to swim with the fishies"

Danielle was barely able to breathe in any air whatsoever before she was dunked beneath the surface. She scrunched her eyes tight and struggled against his hold, panic setting in as she realised that she was going to die. There was no escape this time – no running, no nothing – Bo was going to drown her and there was nothing she could do about it. It did not matter that she was kneeling on the sea-floor, he was too strong to fight – there was no way she was going to be able to lift her head up on her own.

She did not know whether she was relieved or frightened when he pulled her back to the surface and air filled her lungs almost painfully as she tried to cough up some of the water that she had swallowed.

"Not that easily, I've changed my mind – we're going to have some fun first" he laughed "Wanna go back down? I think ya' do-"

"Please-"

But she was submerged once more before she could plead. Plead. What a funny word. Not even when she lived with her mother did she ever think that one day she might have to plead for her life – no, that was up to the characters that she read about in her books. But only weeks ago she was saying the very same think about Marko and what they were. Something she only read about in the thick volumes. She stopped panicking slightly as he came across her mind, as his image filled her head.

Once more she was bought painfully to the surface and once more she coughed herself silly.

"What – not enjoying yourself?" he jeered and faintly she registered someone else laugh "What do you think James, you wanna turn befo-"

A scream, so loud and so full of pain ripped through the air around her and it sent shivers up her arms even more than the cold water had. She felt Bo's hand waver in her hair and a moment later she looked up to glance at his face for the first time this evening. From what she remembered he had always looked cocky and arrogant – and now he looked as if he was in the middle of a horror movie. His mouth was open in shock and even though he was standing completely still his body was trembling so much that the water around him grew unsettled.

Danielle did not know who to be more frightened of; Bo or whoever had made James scream like he was being tortured alive. In an instant his hand had removed itself from her hair and instead he was attempting to get as far away from her as he possibly could – she blinked and he was joined by another.

The moonlight made Marko seem even more pale than he already was – that or the blood splatters that covered his entire right hand and forearm were simply too much of a contrast. His hair was still chaotic from their intimate time before, but his expression was certainly different. He looked calm yet crazed at the exact same time and before she could comprehend what that could possibly mean he had gripped Bo's shoulder with strength that would surely bruise and attacked. Her eyes grew wider as she watched the boy she was sure she was falling desperately in love with rip open Bo's throat open with his teeth – his sharp, pointy teeth.

Bo's body fell forwards into the water but Danielle barely noticed – she was too busy looking to Marko whose face was now also smeared with blood and even from where she still knelt she could see it dripping down and to his black shirt.

The boy she was falling desperately in love with was a Vampire.


	15. Accepting

**Chasing Ghosts  
Chapter Fifteen : **Accepting  
**Word Count: **2,674  
**Note:** I am so sorry I have not been able to get back to any of the reviews for the last chapter, my e-mails have been stuffing up due to something wrong with the notifications on my iPhone and as I do not check my e-mails on the computer, I am rarely notified when I have a new e-mail at all. I apologise for the waiting time between the chapters, but with work, university and life writing does become a little tricky. For all of those that still await the updates, I cannot thank you enough – at the end of the day you are the reason why I update.

**-0-**

To say that he had fucked up would be the understatement of the century, and all he could do was stand and stare at Danielle as she shivered in the dark depths of the water. Her eyes bored into his own with an expression he could not read and he didn't dare to try and read her thoughts at that moment, he didn't think he would be able to handle what was in there. As she knelt in the water long strands of dark hair cling to the side of her face, so very, very different to how they had been when they had been swimming in that pool not so very long ago.

_Paul, I need you. Bring my jacket. _

He'd be here soon, he just knew it. Until then, well, he had absolutely no idea. What could he possibly say to explain what she had just seen? What could he do to try and make the situation better? Nothing came to mind, absolutely nothing.

"Danielle" he began, moving forward slowly "I-" but he stopped, he had absolutely nothing. This was not how it was supposed to be.

"You just-" she began, her eyes still staring into his own "You killed someone – you, oh my God, what – what are you?"

"I'm a Vampire"

The silence was deafening.

"Jesus Christ they were right – Marko you're a Vampire, you're a – oh my God"

"Yeah" he said as he ran one of his hands almost violently through his hair "Yeah, I am"

"This is impossible" she said with a shake of her head "Vampires are not real, they can't be real"

"They are. I am" he insisted and a few moments later he was kneeling before her so that they were eye level "And I didn't want you to find out like this, this isn't how any of this was supposed to happen Danielle"

"I read about you in books, on paper"

"Yes"

"You just ripped his throat out"

Marko couldn't reply, so instead he just stared into her dark orbs.

"Yes" he replied firmly, and he would do it again, and again.

"You left"

Honestly, he would have preferred her try and run away or hit him rather than say what she just spoke – he was sure it would have been far less painful. The guilt, it was simply overwhelming. "This is all my fault-"

"That's not what I was trying to say. Why did you leave? What did I do?"

"What – what did you do?" he exclaimed "You didn't do anything! What makes you think you could have possibly done anything?"

"Because, well, you left"

"I left because I didn't want to bite you Danielle" he exclaimed with a shake of his head "I needed to take a breather before I did something I would regret – this is not on you, none of this is on you. This whole thing way my fault and I am so, so sorry"

"I just – have absolutely no idea what to say-"

"What the fuck happened?"

As Marko looked up, he noticed that Paul had arrived and with his jacket no less. In an instant he had taken it from his best friend and draped it around Danielle's shaky shoulders "I'm taking her home"

"Her home or our home?"

"Ours. Go tell David"

"I have a feeling he already knows man"

**-0-**

"You're all Vampires" Danielle clarified for the fifth time since she had arrived in the run down and very much abandoned hotel "Vampires, how funny"

"Yes" David nodded, regarding her with calculating eyes "Funny is definitely one word for it. You have questions"

"I do" she nodded "But I can't think straight, I have no idea where I would even start"

"Try"

Jesus Christ, where would she even begin to start? A million thoughts currently raced through her mind, where would she begin? "Murder Capitol of the world - the thousands of photos covering the Boardwalk of missing persons, are they all you?"

"Not all of them, but most of them" he replied with a shrug of his shoulders "Most of them were assholes"

"And the others?"

"The others – well the others were beggars"

"Beggars – so what, are you saying that they asked for it?"

"Guess you could say that" he said cryptically

"How often – I mean, do you have to feed every day?"

"No, we don't have too"

"So you chose too?"

"I didn't say that"

"You didn't have to, the implication was awfully clear"

"Don't fuss Marko" David grinned "I won't hurt your girl, I like that she has nerve"

"You – you can all communicate with one another?" she asked, shock and a little bit of understanding running through her "Something – there is something I'm missing. How Paul knew where to find us with a jacket, and how Marko knew my birthday seeing as Edgar and Alan still don't know"

"We can read thoughts" David explained, and watched in satisfaction as her eyes grew wide "Marko here is becoming pretty good at blocking them out, all since meeting you of course. I on the other hand never block them out, the voices – the whispers, I hear everything. Though around you I don't really seem to need the talent, you make your thoughts awfully clear"

"You can read my thoughts?" she repeated herself "I – that is inhuman on so many levels it isn't even funny"

"Well, we aren't human"

"What else?" she asked

"Well, we can fly too"

"No" she gaped "Seriously? Do you have a reflection?"

"No"

"Does garlic do anything? Or a stake – wait no, how about holy water?"

"Garlic does crap all, holy water burns like the sun and a stake will kill anyone – especially our kind, if you stab us in the heart"

"I just, this can't be real" she laughed "I, you're fiction, this is all just fiction"

"No, I'm not. I am real, we are all real and we are all incredibly dangerous – as you saw with your own eyes" David said firmly "And tonight, Marko killed for you. So we're going to leave the two of you alone"

"C'mon man – she needs-" Paul started

"No buts" David demanded, his eyes breaking away from Danielle's to meet his brothers gaze "It's up to Marko to decide what she needs, and we're going to give them privacy. Move it"

Paul, Dwayne and David were gone in a moment's time and then she was alone with him. Marko was still wet from the water, she on the other hand had dried off a little bit more on the bike ride home – but she still felt incredibly cold, not only on the outside but the inside as well. How does one simply understand that her boyfriend is an actual vampire?

"They're long gone by now"

"They must be very quick"

"I'm quicker"

"Come sit with me?" she asked, her eyes finally meeting his from across the room. Since they had arrived a little under half an hour ago he had stood in the corner of the room, clouded in darkness and shadows and hadn't moved since.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Are you going to kill me?" she wondered aloud, though regretting her words slightly as she heard them out loud

"No"

"Then yes, I would like you to come over here and sit with me"

He hesitated for only a moment before he walked across the room to take a seat by her side on the couch "How can you want me so close to you after what you saw me do?"

"I don't know" she admitted with a little frown "I mean, you just killed someone – for me, you literally ripped someone's throat out for me"

"And I'd do it again" he said firmly "I'd do it a thousand times over"

"And it's crazy, it's so crazy because this, this is all very new – I mean I draw Vampires, I watch terrible remakes of Dracula on the television at work and with my neighbours when they're bored and tonight I find out that they're real, it's all real. And still I want you sitting next to me, because you're still Marko, you're the guy that's been driving me up the walls for the past couple of months and that hasn't changed"

"It's changed everything" he stated plainly, and she could make out a hint of anger too "It changes, everything Danielle – how can you not see that?"

"Well obviously it changes things, but are you telling me that these past couple of months haven't been you at all? That underneath the nice, funny and charming boy I've been seeing and kissing in pools is someone completely fake, or different?"

"No-"

"Then what?" she asked "How about you tell me, because from where I'm sitting things have just grown incredibly complicated, but not impossible"

"You can't be handling this so well" he began "There is no way, no way you're just okay with all of this, with what I am"

"And why can't I?" she asked, her own anger coming to the surface "I'm not supposed to accept that the guy that has made me incredibly happy for the last couple of months is actually a Vampire? Am I supposed to forger all that you've made me feel and all that we've done because of what you actually are? Does that really strike you as the type of person that I am?"

"Your reaction is too good to be true" he stated "You have to understand that"

"Well, no, I don't, because it isn't" she frowned "I don't – this is all just, overwhelming and surreal but that doesn't mean that I don't want you in my life, that I want this to all end. Of course I have questions, my head is so full of them I feel like I'm about to explode – but that doesn't mean that I don't want you. More importantly, Marko, are you okay?"

"What?" he stumbled, his own eyes growing wider by the second?

"Are you okay?"

"What the – what do you mean am _I okay?_"

"You just ripped out some guys throat in front of your girlfriend, who had absolutely no idea you were a Vampire. Are you okay?"

"Girlfriend huh?"

And to that, she just laughed "Of everything I just said, that is what you're hung up on?"

"I left you on that beach, panting and breathless and when I came back you -" he paused and she felt his body shake from where he sat beside her "You were underwater, you were being held underwater and I can't remember the last time I was ever that mad. I saw red Danielle, I saw fucking red and I can't even begin to explain how sorry I am. I never wanted you to see me like that, ever"

"When did you er, eat last?" she asked

"Like, a week ago"

"Are you supposed to go that long?"

"No – not really"

She decided to drop the topic "I thought I was going to die" she admitted instead "You might not have saved me in the way that you wanted too Marko, but you saved me nonetheless. They were going to drown me and leave me for someone else to find, and you stopped that from happening. I don't like it when people come to my defence, but without you they would have"

"I still stand by what I said, I would do it again. But the next time, I'd make it worse – I'd make them suffer for even thinking that they could lay their filthy hands on you" he snarled.

It was weird seeing him so violent, and so angry – for someone who always seemed so calm but she knew it was something that she would get used too. Because as much as it was going to be hard for her to literally accept that he had to drink blood to survive, she also knew that it was going to be just as hard for him as it would be for her.

"I have one last question, and then I think I am done for the night"

"Anything" he said, the anger and the frustration gone from his tone "Absolutely anything"

"Would you have told me at all? If tonight had never happened, would you have ever trusted me with your secret?"

"Yes" he replied instantly "Believe me when I say I have been trying to think of ways to tell you for weeks, I just – how do you try and explain something like this to someone?"

"Okay" she nodded "I believe you"

"I don't want you to think I was lying to you -" he began, running his hand through his hair for what had to be the fifth time in the span of an hour "Trust is a big thing, I know – bit this isn't just my secret Danielle and that's something I know that David is going to have to talk to you about"

"I figured as much"

And then they sat in silence. Her clothes were still a little damp and for a moment she shifted in her seat uncomfortably before really taking the scenery in for the first time since she had arrived. The room itself was dark and the only light that illuminated the room were candles, dark and dusty but yet beautiful in a way that she couldn't describe. Several old chairs sat around the lobby and crooked photos hung from the walls, some looking like they had been here since the old resort had been established and some having obviously been placed in their spots since the boys had taken over. Shells, CDs and queer objects hung from the roof in random places and leaning against a pillar not too far from where she sat two surfboards sit. She also made out a few beds hidden behind some ripped curtains.

"Where do you sleep?" she asked

"It's a little funny actually" he grinned

"Please tell me you sleep in a coffin"

"Not exactly – we sleep hanging from the ceiling, like bats"

"That is a little funny" she laughed, and then she shook her head "I'm exhausted"

"You can stay here, we have beds" he offered

"Do you have anything I can wear?" she asked "My clothes are still damp, and it's getting to the point I can't really move without squirming because of the sea water"

Ten minutes later she was dressed in an old pair of sweat pants and one of his white singlets. Funny enough, they fit her surprisingly well.

"You didn't peak?" she asked

"I can't make any promises" he grinned "C'mon, you need rest"

"I won't deny that. What's the time?"

"It's closing in on two"

"I'm really happy I don't have to work tomorrow" she sighed as she sank onto the surprisingly comfy mattress – though after her day, any mattress would be a comfortable mattress "The idea of sleeping past eight o'clock sounds like a dream come true"

"I'd uh-" he began awkwardly, and she could tell he was fighting the urge to run his hand through his hair again "I'd stay beside you but I'm freezing to touch"

"There are three blankets on this bed" she pointed out "But if you're not comfortable with lying beside-"

She stopped as he climbed into the bed beside her, his arm brushing against hers. He was right, his skin _was_ freezing cold to touch but at the same time it wasn't unpleasant – well, she didn't think so at least.

"Were you seriously going to suggest that I wouldn't be comfortable, or content lying next to you in a bed?" he asked, and she knew that he was mocking her. It made her extremely embarrassed.

"Yes"

"You're silly. Get some sleep"

Danielle shut her eyes, and moments later she felt him shift beside her – but it barely registered. She hadn't been lying when she had told Marko that she had been exhausted, which was why she didn't think a single thing when he wrapped a single arm around her stomach and pulled her into his embrace.


	16. Beginning

**Chasing Ghosts  
Chapter Sixteen:** Beginning  
**Word Count: 3,249  
Note:** So, I'm not dead. Once again I am so, so sorry for such a long wait in-between updates. For those who are sticking out for said updates I cannot express my love and gratitude enough. It seems as if I have come across a very, very strong writers block so ideas are **welcome! **I am a little cautious to write about the _actual_ Lost Boys timeline, and before now I guess I have not really thought about it all that much (a little sloppy, I know, but once I decide where this story is going I will definitely let you all know what the go is with Star and what not) Nonetheless, enjoy the chapter! I also want to give a massive shout-out to TomieHarley who gives me hope that I can cross this writers block sooner rather than later – thank you so much for all of your kind words.

**-0-**

Danielle woke slowly, and it was a few minutes of relaxing into the comforts of the bed before she opened her eyes. The first thing she knew was that Marko was no longer beside her, the second thing she knew as that her boyfriend and all of his friends were Vampires. It was something she was going to have to just wrap her head around – but wasn't it not so long ago she was defending Vampires to Marko and Paul? Though at that time she obviously hadn't known they existed, she had done so all the same.

A moment passed before she thought of her neighbours and how they had actually been right about everything all along – she shook her head and smiled to herself, feeling a little guilty how she had never believed them before now. But soon it was not only the guilt about them being right that plagued her, it was the guilt about how she would soon have to lie to them again about the fact that she _knew_ four of them – and they seemed pretty alright to her. Something that Danielle knew deep down neither boy would ever believe.

As she swung her legs off of the bed she stretched with a loud yawn, the place was still lit with faint candlelight and she could not help but wonder how long she had slept for. She looked down to the clothes that were not hers and fiddled with the hem of the white singlet. At least, she thought, Bo and James would not be a problem anymore. More guilt filled her, which she didn't have the energy to feel the night before. Of course she hadn't wished either man a good life – far from it, but did she ever wish that they would just die? No, she hadn't. Both of them were now dead because of her, and that was something she was going to have to live with for the rest of her life.

"You're awake"

The voice snapped her from her thoughts, and when she lifted her head she saw that Dwayne was leaning against a wall on the other side of the room

"Yes, I just woke. What time is it?"

"Seven thirty"

"You're joking" she gaped

"No"

"Oh, sorry – it's just I never sleep in, especially that late"

"Understandable. After last night it's only logical that you would be physically and mentally exhausted"

"I guess that is true"

After that, silence filled the room. Before now she had never been alone with Dwayne before, and she had no idea what they could possibly talk about.

"Marko said you liked to read"

She was awfully glad that he had spoken first, and at the thought of books she allowed herself to smile and forget about the guilt – for now.

"Oh yes, it's one of my favourite ways to pass the time"

"You get him talking about books, he'll never shut up" Paul called out, and a moment later he appeared beside Dwayne looking like he had just rolled out of bed. His hair was messier than usual and bare of his usual fishnet shirts and coats, and she had to admit – he had a lot more muscle than she thought he would have. David appeared next; he too was without his long black coat and instead wore a simple black t-shirt cuffed at the sleeves with some dark jeans.

"So" David began with a clap of his hands "You're still here"

"I just woke up"

"No, I meant you're still _here. _We were taking bets on whether you would stay or not after finding out about what we are"

For a moment she was silent, and then her laughter filled the room surprising David and the other two boys beside him.

"Let me guess, Paul owes you a fair bit then"

"How the fu-" Paul began, and then he stopped himself "How do you know I bet against you huh? There is no way you could have possibly known that"

"I just do" she shrugged "And before you apologise, I won't take it personally"

"Yeah, she ain't going nowhere" David smirked "I'm liking her more and more already. Just gotta see if Marko is going to-"

But he did not get the chance to finish, because at that moment Marko walked into the room.

"Morning" he said rather loudly, and Danielle could not help but grow curious as to what David would have said

"I think you're a little late" she said sheepishly, she was still sitting on the bed and dressed in his clothes nonetheless – for the first time since the boys had arrived she felt rather embarrassed.

"Don't be, they look better on you than they look on him-" Paul said, and then Marko slapped him across the back of the head "-ow! You little fuck, what was that for?"

"Mind-reading" Marko grumbled, he then made his way over to where she sat and kissed her cheek "Block her thoughts out, I don't want you poking around her head"

"What about Dwayne and David?" Paul asked as he rubbed the back of his head as if he were in pain "I don't see you smacking them"

"David and Dwayne both know better than to bring them up in a conversation, especially if it's going to make her embarrassed" Marko deadpanned "And I'm not an idiot, I don't have a deathwish"

Danielle did not think she would ever grow tired of their banter, even if it she was at the blunt of it.

"I hope you slept well, c'mon, I'll take you home so you can get some proper clothes"

She followed him out of his home and gave a wave to his three friends as she began to climb the stairs, and soon she was climbing onto the back of his bike and wrapping her arms around his waist. Unlike the other times that they had done this, this time she leant her head against his back and held on just that little bit harder.

"You ready?" he asked

"Always"

They sped off immediately and Danielle as always couldn't help but smile and laugh as they went, overtaking cars that honked their horns at his somewhat reckless driving. Marko pulled up outside of her apartment building and took her hand as he helped her off, giving her a little kiss on the forehead when he was done.

"Do you want me to come up?" he asked

"Of course, why wouldn't I?"

"Nothing, no reason"

She had a feeling that he may have just lied, but she wouldn't push for an answer. They walked up the sets of stairs and when she opened her door she couldn't help but smile as she stepped into her apartment – a moment later her eyes wondered to her bedroom, she simply could not wait for a shower.

"Go" he nodded "Take as long as you need, I'm fine out here"

"Are you sure?" she asked "I wouldn't want you to get bored"

"I'm fine here" he smirked "Unless you want me to join you?"

Her heart stopped for a moment, and she knew that she was blushing madly at the thought.

"I'm kidding" he smiled "you and me both are nowhere near ready enough for that yet"

Danielle nodded and slipped into her room, undressing slowly before she went into her bathroom and turned on the taps to her shower. _You and me both_. The words kept repeating themselves over and over in her head, how in the world could he possibly not be ready? Surely he had been with girls before, he had told her that before – so why in the world isn't he ready? Her thoughts soon drifted to the topic completely, she did not think she was ready for such a huge step so early in their relationship – the most she had ever done was kiss a boy and Marko was also her first for that too.

Even though the water was quite hot, she could not help but feel a little cold. She was completely and utterly inexperienced when it came to anything to do with relationships, especially the physical side, and she couldn't help but convince herself that she was going to make an utter fool of herself. What if when the time came she just didn't know what to do? Or even worse, did something wrong completely? They plagued her brain even after she had turned the water off, and as she dressed in an oversized black singlet and plain leggings she couldn't help but critique her body.

Her hips were too big, her stomach was not completely flat and her skin was very far from being perfect with the freckles that doted here and their across her shoulders – she did not even want to think about the occasional shaving sores on her legs. With a deep breath she tried to push the thoughts from her mind, and she was somewhat successful when she joined Marko in the lounge room of her apartment. Her thoughts were then completely wiped as she realised what he was doing, more or so what he was looking through. Marko was on her couch as he flipped through the sketchbook that held the drawings of _him_.

"What are you doing?" she asked

Marko lifted his head and grinned "You know, I'm all up for nude modelling if you ever wanna' give it a shot"

"You -" she wanted to be angry, but she also wanted to laugh. Neither won.

"Don't be embarrassed, I'm honestly flattered" he said "It's cute"

"It isn't" she groaned as she covered her face with her hands "I don't even know why I ended up drawing you in any of these, you're just all I ended up thinking about"

"Well I am definitely not going to complain about that"

"It was just your jacket to begin with"

"And you did a very good job" he laughed "Danielle please don't be embarrassed"

"You're asking me to do the impossible"

"Would it make you feel better if I admitted that I'd drawn you as well?"

She jumped at how close he was, and when she removed her hands from her eyes she saw that he was right in front of her. Marko was not tall, in fact he stood only two or three inches higher than her – so she was looking right into his blue eyes. They were beautiful.

"A little"

"Well, I have – so don't be all shy on me now. I meant it when I said I was honestly flattered"

She nodded, and when he cocked his head to the side she smiled.

"I don't wanna have to read your mind. So tell me what you're thinking"

"I – I don't know how to do this" she smiled and motioned between them "I don't know relationships, or commitment or anything that I'm supposed to do. I don't know what I'm meant to do to keep you happy, or to – to satisfy you-"

He interrupted her with a soft kiss, and a moment after his lips landed on hers he cupped her face between his hands. Her worries fell; as did the doubt and every other negative feeling she was plagued with only moments before. When his lips left hers she released the breath she did not realize she had been holding.

"I just want you to be you" he smirked "Nothing more and nothing less. And you don't need to worry about satisfying me – on the contrary I should be the one worrying about satisfying you"

"I'm sure you're -" but she didn't know how to finish her sentence, so she closed her mouth and just stared at him instead

"You're adorable" he laughed, then he kissed her again – her eyes closed when he began to pull her closer "You really are" he mumbled between kisses.

Danielle wanted to cry when a knock at the door tore them apart.

"Danielle! Open up" it was Edgar

"It's Edgar"

Marko groaned and rolled his eyes "Of course it is"

"C'mon, they're like brothers to me"

"They don't like me"

"Yes, I think I gathered that. I have no idea why though"

"I can think of a few"

"Tell me?" she asked – there was more knocking on the door

"Danielle are you still in there?" Alan asked

"His bike is outside; of course she's still here"

It was then that she walked over and opened her door – and there they stood, Alan still with his hand raised as if he were about to knock again and Edgar with his arms crossed.

"Hi!" Alan said "We – er, we just-"

"Alan knew you didn't come back last night and he got worried" Edgar grunted "You're fine though"

"Yeah – I just, I actually crashed at Marko's. I fell asleep last night"

"Oh" Alan said – it was then that she looked at him.

Alan's hair was messy; his signature floppy brown hair looked as if it hadn't been washed in a couple of days and large bags hung under his eyes. But that wasn't what made her really _look _at him – what made her do that was the redness of his cheeks.

"We'll go then" Edgar said firmly "Sorry if we interrupted you and uh- blondie"

"Are you guys like together now?" Alan asked

"Yes" she nodded "We are"

She did not miss the look that crossed his face, or how quickly he had tried to hide it

"Alright, well we'll see you around"

"I'm going to make a big breakfast for dinner tomorrow" she said with a small smile "Can I count you guys in to help me eat everything?"

"Sure" Alan nodded "We'll come over around seven. See you"

Edgar nodded, and then joined his brother. Danielle watched as they both took towards the stairs.

"How did I not see it sooner" she mumbled to herself

"What – the boys crush on you? Don't be hard on yourself"

"How did you know?" she asked, a moment later after locking her door she joined him on the couch "And how long have you known?"

"I was pretty positive about it all when he came and It was the night before you came to me in the rain, I was standing outside of the comic shop earlier and looking up here – man that sounds bad when I say it out loud – but yeah, he came over to me and tore me a new one. I was pissed at first, but you know in the end he made some good points. He also threatened me, it was kinda' amusing"

"I don't want it to change things" she said "Now that – well I know"

"Then don't let it" he grinned "He'll get over it, he's young"

"I'm young"

"He is younger"

"How old are you?" she asked suddenly

"How old am I?" he grinned

"Yes" she smiled "C'mon, tell me"

"I'm eighteen"

"C'mon Marko, how long have you been seventeen"

"I was turned in 1955*****"

"Wow" she breathed "Why were you turned?"

"I was sick" he nodded "My heart, it was never good you know. And I was dying; I didn't have anyone either – parents both died. I was a rebel, a real shit head if I can be honest – it's how I met David and Dwayne to begin with. David turned me – the pain was, well it wasn't nice – but it was worth it"

"Does David only turn you if you're sick?" she asked

"Nah, Dwayne wasn't sick – they just bonded you know? And the same goes with Paul. Guess I was the charity case" he laughed

"You're not a charity case" she frowned

"I was being silly" he shook his head

Even though she had slept through the entire day, she was still incredibly tired. She could not hold in her yawn, and it was then that she stretched herself out on the couch and rested her head against Marko's shoulder. For the first time since that morning the two both that had attacked her came into her mind, as did the guilt.

"You're practically screaming your thoughts to me" he mumbled into her hair "Dan, you don't have to feel guilty about shit. I killed them and that is on me"

"No – it isn't" she sighed "It's on me"

"They attacked you!" he cried out, and then he was in front of her "They would have killed you Danielle – do you understand that?"

"Yes" she frowned

"Then understand this – I would do what I did last night again, and again and again if that meant keeping you safe. And if I could have I would have made it slower and three times as painful because they deserved it"

"Don't say that" she began "I'm not worth someone's life"

"Yes you are" he deadpanned "And if I have to do it again I will"

"Do you know how that makes me feel?" she asked "That you're willing to kill someone for me? Not theoretically, but literally take someone's life for me"

"No – I don't" he admitted "But if it's you or them I'm going to pick you. Danielle I am a Vampire and that does not just mean that I drink blood to survive, it means that I will protect you fiercely against all that I have to, that I am dangerous and deadly and once my temper snaps not much can hold me back. Maybe you'll understand-"

Her eyes widened at his words

"No – no not anytime soon – fuck, shit" he groaned "I'm going to freak you out even more than I have already which I thought was fucking impossible considering all that had happened in the past twenty-four hours"

Marko did not sit beside her on the couch; instead he shifted until his back was leaning against the wall in front of her.

"I haven't done this either you know" he said quietly "I don't know what to say in situations like this, I don't know how to make you feel better about something that I'm not ashamed of"

"I don't expect you too" she sighed "I just – it's hard for me"

"I know, I know it is" he said with a shake of his head "Do you – do you uh, want me to go?"

"No – no you don't have to go, I don't want that"

"Alright" he nodded

"So – how do you uh, eat" she asked

"We feed of humans" he said, and she could tell that he didn't want to continue – but she needed to know, she had to know "We try and go for the assholes, the scum that hang around the boardwalk you know"

"Do you have to drain them?"

"No"

"But sometimes you do?" she asked

"Yes"

She nodded in understanding.

"I-"

"You don't have to explain anything to me. If I didn't want you to be here, you wouldn't be"

He smiled at that

"Are you hungry? I can cook"

"I wouldn't complain" he grinned

"I'll scramble some eggs, I'm feeling quite peckish"

While she prepared the simple meal they joked, Marko doodled in one of her sketch pads and Danielle couldn't help but settle into calm. The past twenty-four hours had been absolutely nothing less than wild – she had nearly drowned, had witnessed the death of a person and had found out that her boyfriend sometimes are people to survive. Her life was so far from perfect it wasn't funny – but at the same time she was happier than she had ever been in a very, very long time.

**-0-**

* 1955 – an absolute random guess as is the whole turning story – they are complete and utter works of fiction from the corners of my mind.


End file.
